Mack plays hero as Marlins win on walk-off error

MIAMI -- Marlins No. 4 prospect Joe Mack waited all week to experience a celebratory postgame clubhouse. Now it might be days before he’s able to get all the ketchup and mustard out of his ears.

Mack kickstarted the Marlins’ ninth-inning rally and scored the walk-off run in Thursday night’s 4-3 walk-off win over the Orioles at loanDepot park.

“I love the team camaraderie that we have,” Mack said. “We had a good meeting, just shouting out all the good stuff that everybody did. It's just a really cool, fun experience.”

With the game tied, 3-3, in the ninth, Mack (No. 52 overall prospect) stepped to the plate with two outs to face righty Andrew Kittredge for the second time in his young career (singled vs. him on Tuesday). Mack, who entered the series finale in the eighth inning as a defensive replacement, pulled an elevated sinker to the right-field corner for his first extra-base hit.

Moments later, Mack began racing toward third on Javier Sanoja’s chopper to third baseman Coby Mayo, who stayed back on the ball. It bounced off Mayo’s left side and into the air. Rather than attempt a tag of Mack, Mayo one-hopped a throw past first baseman Pete Alonso to score the winning run.

“I've got to definitely work on my baserunning there,” said Mack, who picked up his first run on the play. “We're going to probably do some [pregame] work on that tomorrow. Honestly, it was just kind of as soon as he swung the bat, I was going, and he bobbled it a little bit, so I ran past him and ducked in front of him. So just seeing that whole thing unfold, then running home, looking at Otto [Lopez] with his hands up and open jaw and all that stuff, it was a really cool experience.”

The way things have been going for the Marlins of late, they’ll take it. They opened their season-long 10-game homestand by dropping five of six and being outscored 30-22.

With the club playing games in 10 consecutive days, and 26 contests over the next 27 days, the front office has needed to make a flurry of moves to keep the pitching staff fresh. Friday will mark six consecutive days for a prospect’s Major League callup when Miami selects the contract of left-hander Robby Snelling (Marlins No. 2 prospect, No. 32 overall) to start the series opener against Washington. Ahead of Thursday’s finale, the Marlins even shook up their position-player group, hoping for a spark.

“We’ll try our best every day,” Sanoja said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. “You have seen that our confidence has increased with this game. But like I said, we’re always practicing and trying our best. You see us with those machines up and down. I have to say, I appreciate the group of guys that has come up these last few days, a bit of reinforcement coming in and helping everybody. It’s been very special to see what they’ve done and will continue to perform with that confidence boost.”

In order to snap out of this funk, the Marlins needed contributions from multiple players while resting Kyle Stowers and Xavier Edwards with a right-handed-heavy lineup.

This season’s go-to source, Liam Hicks, gave the Marlins their first lead of the series with a two-run homer to right in the first inning. His ninth tater of the season came on a hanging slider from lefty Cade Povich, signifying his first career long ball against a southpaw. With the two RBIs, he took over the Major League lead (34).

Connor Norby drove in a third-inning run with an RBI single against his former club.

Lefty Andrew Nardi and righty Michael Petersen handled two scoreless innings to keep the Marlins ahead, 3-2, into the eighth. Instead of going with experienced late-inning right-handed options Calvin Faucher, Anthony Bender or Tyler Phillips, however, manager Clayton McCullough tested Marlins No. 30 prospect Josh Ekness to face the top of the O’s lineup.

Ekness would give up Pete Alonso’s game-tying RBI single, but he induced a 4-6-3 double play and a flyout to escape further damage. A recently bespectacled Faucher worked a scoreless ninth to set up the walk-off heroics.

“Hope this is something that kind of can get us going a little bit, and everybody feels much better tonight after a win,” McCullough said. “Again, a lot of guys contributed in different fashions and had to get in there. So it definitely feels good to come away with a win any way it ends up.”