D-backs outmash Marlins; magic number at 2

September 23rd, 2017

PHOENIX -- It was definitely not a pitchers' duel at Chase Field on Friday night as Chris Iannetta smacked two home runs and drove in eight as the D-backs won a slugfest with the Marlins, 13-11, and inched closer to clinching a postseason berth.
The win lowered the D-backs' magic number for clinching a Wild Card spot to two. The D-backs will host the Wild Card Game with one more victory and one more loss by the Rockies, who beat the Padres on Friday night.
"I think there was a little extra charge in our day," D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. "You could see how excited C.I. was when he hit that grand slam, I think that was an indication to where we're at and the feeling that we have inside of the dugout. The fans were out today and really supporting us; there was tremendous energy. This is September baseball. When you're driving toward something as special as we are, we feel that moment."

Iannetta's eight RBIs were a career high and were just one shy of the franchise record set by Erubiel Durazo on May 17, 2002. His three-run homer in the first erased a 2-0 Marlins lead and his grand slam in the sixth gave the D-backs the lead for good.
"I think that's the anatomy of a winning team," Iannetta said. "I don't think you can have three or four guys, five guys carrying a team an entire season. Baseball's too hard; there's too many ups and downs. It's too hard to be that good for a whole season when you have just a few guys doing it. So you need other guys to step up and I think a lot of guys have."

Marlins outfielder also did damage at the plate, blasting two homers of his own while driving in three.
Both of Ozuna's homers came off Arizona starter Zack Greinke, who had his worst outing of the year. The right-hander, who figures to get the start in a potential Wild Card Game, allowed eight runs on nine hits and lasted just four innings.
"He's a No. 1 pitcher, and you have to focus more," Ozuna said. "He's one of those guys who doesn't give you too many pitches to hit. You have to be ready for the pitches you get."
The Marlins (72-81) were mathematically eliminated from Wild Card contention, but they pounded out 17 hits in the loss.
"I thought we did a really good job with Zack tonight, and what we wanted to do with him," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "The guys were good with him. Even right up there until the ninth, the guys were still fighting it. You're happy about that."
D-backs closer pitched into and out of a jam in the ninth to record his 39th save of the year and the 300th of his career. Rodney is just the 28th player to reach that mark.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Stanton quiet: Marlins outfielder put on a show during batting practice and looked like he might just carry it over into the game when he lifted a deep fly to left in the first inning. , though, hauled it in and the D-backs managed to keep Stanton stuck on 56 homers, retiring him in each of his next four plate appearances. But Stanton had a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning, giving him 121 RBIs, which tied the Marlins' season record first set by Preston Wilson in 2000. More >

Runs off Archie: The Marlins mounted a rally against setup man in the eighth inning as they scored a pair of runs and brought the potential go-ahead run to the plate with just one out. Bradley managed to strike out Ozuna and get to ground out to short to end the threat. It snapped a 10-appearance streak without allowing a run for Bradley.

QUOTABLE
"Everything I was trying wasn't working. It was just bad. Felt bad pretty much all the way through. It was a good time to do it, we played really good and scored a ton of runs and played great defense, too. The other team hit the ball really good and we hit the ball really good. It was not the game I was planning, but it worked out good." -- Greinke
"Last time, when we beat up [Yu] Darvish, they thought we had his pitches. Now that we get Greinke, you're going to tell us that he didn't have his good stuff. Our guys were pretty good tonight. We have a club that can swing the bats. But obviously, we couldn't stop them tonight. That's what the story was." -- Mattingly, noting a July 26 Marlins' 22-10 win over Texas, in a game Darvish started

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
J.D. Martinez hit his 13th home run of the month to tie the franchise record for homers in a single month. Luis Gonzalez hit 13 homers in March/April of 2001 en route to hitting 57 for the year.

Ozuna connected twice off Greinke, belting a two-run shot in the first and a solo blast in the fourth. It was his fifth career multi-homer game and fourth of the season. Also, with three RBIs, Ozuna now has 118 on the season, the fifth most in franchise history.
"I'm focusing on my job, and getting a good pitch in the zone, and we're looking to finish strong," Ozuna said.

REVIEW TO DOUBLE
Down three runs in the seventh inning, J.T. Realmuto made an aggressive play, trying to stretch a one-out single to a double. At first he was called out, but the call was overturned after a replay review of one-minute, 48 seconds, giving the Miami catcher a double. Off the bat, Realmuto hustled to second, as left fielder Peralta threw to , who applied the tag. Realmuto slid head-first, and replay showed his fingers just reached the base safely.

WHAT'S NEXT
Marlins: The Marlins send lefty (0-2, 5.40) to the mound on Saturday for the 8:10 p.m. ET matchup at Chase Field. The rookie will make his fifth start since being a September callup. He has 22 strikeouts and 12 walks in 21 2/3 innings.
D-backs: will look to bounce back from a tough start when he takes the mound at 5:10 p.m. MST Saturday night against the Marlins at Chase Field. Walker allowed four runs on seven hits over five innings last weekend against the Giants.
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