Marlins walk off on Reds after Chen's gem

Lefty K's 8 over 7 scoreless frames; Galloway hits game-winning 2B in 10th

September 22nd, 2018

MIAMI -- has felt right at home at Marlins Park all season. The left-hander, in his final appearance of the year in Miami, again was masterful, tossing seven scoreless innings. But it wasn't until the 10th inning Friday night that Miami was able to celebrate.
lined a double off the wall in right field, driving home from second, and the Marlins walked off on the Reds, 1-0. In a game that moved briskly behind the pitching of Chen and Reds right-hander , Galloway delivered his first career walk-off hit.

The constant for Chen all season has been his success at Marlins Park, where he made 13 starts and finished up with a 1.62 ERA over 78 innings. The left-hander has the lowest home ERA of any starter in the National League.
After the win, Chen said he talked with teammate Dan Straily, and the two joked about a strategy to even out his home and road splits in 2019.
"We discussed that in Spring Training next year, I should probably pitch all my games on the road [to reverse the pattern]," Chen said through his interpreter.

Chen's home splits vastly contrast his numbers on the road, where he has a 9.29 ERA in 12 starts over 51 1/3 innings. For the season, Chen's ERA is 4.66.
"I can't explain why I can pitch like this at home, and not so much on the road," Chen said. "I probably should practice more in Spring Training."
The Marlins are now 60-93 on the season, and they evened their four-game set with the Reds.
With both starters putting up zeroes, the Marlins were waiting for someone to step up. It was Galloway, who entered in the eighth inning as a pinch-runner and was involved in a replay review after a hard slide.
"It felt good just to help the team come through," Galloway said. "I came in late in the game, I had that slide, which kind of slowed momentum down a little bit. But it was good to get an opportunity. I put a good swing on the ball."
Castillo carried a shutout into the ninth inning. But after issuing a one-out single to and a walk to J.T. Realmuto, Castillo was lifted for , who got out of the jam by inducing a 6-4-3 double play out of , forcing extra innings.
Chen scattered three hits, struck out eight and didn't issue a walk in seven innings. He rebounded from two straight sluggish four-inning starts, where he gave up eight runs while taking a pair of losses.
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"All I can do is try to stay with the same mindset and do the same routine, and try to attack hitters more," Chen said. "I guess that's all I can do."
Chen effectively mixed up his pitches, throwing 30 sliders and 19 curveballs. He added 45 four-seam fastballs, and topped out at 93.2 mph, per Statcast™. Neither team could mount much of anything. But the Reds had the best chance early. In the third inning, Curt Casali led off with a double, but Chen responded with consecutive strikeouts of Blake Trahan and Castillo, and ended the threat by retiring on a fly ball to right.
The defensive play of the game for the Marlins came in the fifth inning after doubled and advanced to third on a fly ball. With one out, Miami played its infield in, and Trahan bounced to short. JT Riddle drifted to his glove side, and was able to make an accurate throw to the plate, and Realmuto tagged out Ervin.

From there, Chen was in complete control.
"He's got a pretty good pitch mix," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "I think we haven't quite seen it until this year, where it's a full year of it. He can back-door the slider, he has a curveball. He can throw it inside on you. He's got a little slider for the lefties that you don't see the spin. I've stood in on him, and you don't see that spin. When he's good with that, he's tough, because he can get the ball to both sides of the plate."

MOMENT THAT MATTERED
Galloway's walk-off double in the 10th inning was partly assisted. During his at-bat, the Reds moved Ervin in a few steps in right field. Cincinnati was looking to take away a low liner and have Ervin in better position to make a throw to the plate on a single to right. But Galloway was able to drive the ball 342 feet, according to Statcast™, over Ervin's head. When the ball bounced off the wall, Anderson scored easily as Galloway was credited with a double.
Off the bat, he wasn't sure the ball was deep enough to fall.
"If anything, I thought at least [Anderson] can get to third," Galloway said. "I was out in front a little bit on it. Luckily, it fell."
Asked if he was intentionally trying to drive the ball over Ervin's head, Galloway noted: "I wish it was that easy."

SOUND SMART
Friday was the seventh 1-0 win in extra innings by the Marlins in franchise history.
HE SAID IT
"I've hit a couple of walk-offs in the Minors. Big games, it seemed at the time, but this one was pretty special." -- Galloway, who spent parts of 11 seasons in the Minors before his first big league opportunity this year
MITEL REPLAY OF THE DAY
The Reds got a crucial overturn in the eighth inning, which led to a double play. With Galloway pinch-running for , who singled, bunted. Castillo went to second for the force, and Trahan threw on to first, and the speedy Sierra was easily safe. But the Reds challenged, because on Galloway's hard slide through the base, he popped up and made contact with Trahan. After a two-minute and 31-second review, both Galloway and Sierra were ruled out due to slide interference by Galloway.

"I didn't think he was going to go to second with it," Galloway said. "So I ran hard. Then I saw either the shortstop or second baseman getting ready. I slid a little late. I clipped the base and came up, so it was interference. It kind of stinks, but it's the way it goes sometimes."
UP NEXT
is 3-0 with a 1.47 ERA in September, and the right-hander takes the mound at 7:10 p.m. ET at Marlins Park on Saturday. Urena is 2-9 with a 4.20 ERA at home this season. Former Marlins right-hander goes for the Reds.