Defensive-wizard Marlins have tough night in field
Miami makes season-high three errors, which nearly costs them before Bour's heroics
MIAMI -- If it wasn't for Justin Bour's heroics in a 6-5 win on Wednesday night against the Giants, the Marlins' sloppy defense would have been at the forefront of an ugly loss.
When Bour connected on a three-run walk-off home run in the ninth inning, he bailed out a Miami defense that committed three errors, which led to two unearned runs. Ironically, the Marlins entered the contest with a Major League-low 30 errors.
"We were a little sloppy defensively, which is very uncharacteristic for this ball club," manager Dan Jennings said. "But you can throw that out the window when you have the at-bats that you have in the ninth inning."
San Francisco took a 1-0 lead in the third inning thanks to an error by the eventual hero. With two outs and Justin Maxwell on second base, Joey Panik hit a sharp grounder to shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria, who backhanded the ball and threw to first. But Bour couldn't handle the toss, which bounced away and allowed Maxwell to score.
The Giants then pushed their lead to 5-3 in the seventh on two errors by reliever Sam Dyson.
Angel Pagan singled with one out and advanced to second on Dyson's errant pickoff throw to first. After advancing to third with two outs, Pagan scored when Dyson threw Matt Duffy's weak grounder past Bour down the first-base line.
Video: SF@MIA: Pagan scores on an error after a Duffy single
"It wasn't [a crisp game]," Bour said. "But that's the game of baseball. You can't really ever give up. You've got to play all nine."
Bour certainly proved that point true in the ninth, when his blast helped the Marlins overcome their first three-error game of the season.
"That's one of those games you start at the back and want to work to the front," Jennings said.