Marlins set franchise 10th-inning record with 8(!!) runs

ST. PETERSBURG – The Marlins set a franchise record with eight runs in the 10th inning of a 10-5 win over the Rays to even the Citrus Series on Saturday at Tropicana Field.

With the game tied at 2, Joe Mack singled and Xavier Edwards walked to load the bases against righty Hunter Bigge. Tampa Bay drew the shifted infield in, but Liam Hicks still found a hole through the right side for a two-run single to retake sole possession of the Major League RBI lead (40).

Otto Lopez (sacrifice fly), Connor Norby (RBI single), Javier Sanoja (three-run double) and Esteury Ruiz (RBI single) added run-scoring swings in the outburst. The last time Miami scored that many runs in a single frame was Sept. 6, 2023, against the Dodgers (nine-run fifth).

The game went to extras after longtime Rays reliever Pete Fairbanks gave up the game-tying run on former Marlin Nick Fortes’ two-out RBI single off Sanoja’s glove. Fairbanks’ return to Tropicana Field was his first appearance since being reinstated from the injured list (nerve irritation) on Wednesday.

Miami was in a position to win thanks to a two-out rally in the ninth, when Jakob Marsee sliced a single to left. Sanoja followed by lining righty Bryan Baker’s first-pitch changeup to the left-center gap to score Marsee.

The Marlins were held scoreless by righty Nick Martinez through six innings. Trailing 1-0 with two outs in the seventh, the right-handed-hitting Heriberto Hernández pinch-hit for the left-handed-hitting Owen Caissie to face southpaw Garrett Cleavinger.

Following a mound visit, Hernández ambushed the first-pitch slider for a game-tying solo shot to left-center. It traveled a projected 439 feet with an exit velocity of 107.9 mph.

Hernández’s first long ball of the season was also the club’s first pinch-hit homer in 2026.

Right-hander Sandy Alcantara allowed one unearned run over six innings for his seventh quality start of the season.