NEW YORK – One thing can be said about the Marlins: They are a pesky team and will not go away if they are behind the 8-ball. After a three-hour, 35-minute rain delay, it showed in a 7-6 victory over the Yankees on Sunday at Yankee Stadium.
The Fightin’ Fish were down, 4-3, after seven innings, but scored four runs in the top of the eighth off right-hander Jake Bird. With the bases loaded, pinch-hitter Graham Pauley doubled down the right-field line, scoring Jakob Marsee and Otto Lopez for a 5-4 lead.
Left-hander Ryan Yarbrough entered the game for New York to face Xavier Edwards, who is considered a weaker hitter from the right side of the plate. It didn’t work for New York as Edwards’ single drove in Griffin Conine and Pauley.
It was a bullpen game for the Marlins. After a slow start from Pete Fairbanks, Andrew Nardi, Chris Paddack, John King, Calvin Faucher and Anthony Bender held the Bronx Bombers to one unearned run in eight innings.
It was the first litmus test for the Marlins, who were facing an expected postseason contender for the first time this season. Before Sunday’s game, manager Clayton McCullough came away pleased with how his team had battled the Bronx Bombers.
Even though New York won two of the three games, Miami showed throughout the series that its hitters are pesky. The Marlins were never out of the game and out of the fight until the last out was made. During the three-game series, the Marlins scored 16 runs and collected 27 hits.
“No matter how today goes, I think this has been a great series for us even though the results haven’t gone our way,” McCullough said. “It’s so very early in the season. I think the manner [in which] we have lost these two games are good for us. It’s not a shock we haven’t filled up the zone like we are capable of.”