Derek Jeter’s claim the Marlins “will be competitive” this season finally has some merit as Miami captured its first series win of the season by beating one of the best pitchers in baseball.
With Clayton Kershaw on the mound in Los Angeles, Wednesday’s rubber match with the Dodgers was expected to be a blowout for the reigning NL champions, but Miguel Rojas and Co. had other plans.
Kershaw walked his fifth and sixth batter of the game in the fifth inning before Rojas came to the plate with two outs. Rojas connected with the first pitch he saw from Kershaw — a 91 mph fastball — and blasted it over the left-field wall to give Miami a 3-0 lead.
The Marlins went on to win 8-6 as Trevor Richards outpitched Kershaw by holding the Dodgers to just one hit over 4 2/3 innings with 10 strikeouts. Miami relievers did enough to hold the lead as Miami added a pair of runs in the eighth and ninth off Scott Alexander and Kenley Jansen.
Kershaw was pulled after the fifth inning after allowing three runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and six walks. He still owns a 2.84 ERA on the season but the Dodgers now sit one game below .500.
Studs of the night
Tigers batters: The Detroit bats broke out in a big way in Game 1 of Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Pirates’ Jameson Taillon and Co. Six Tigers starters recorded at least two hits led by Miguel Cabrera and Nicholas Castellanos’ four apiece. In all, the Tigers scored 13 runs on 20 hits while Francisco Cervelli kept the game interesting with six RBIs for the Bucs in the 13-10 game.
Jon Gray didn’t let Coors Field affect him in a 5-2 win over the Padres. The Rockies right-hander struck out 11 while allowing just three hits (all singles) and one walk over six shutout innings.
Duds of the night
Nationals slugger Matt Adams plated six as Giants pitchers allowed a season-high 15 runs, the most runs the club has allowed since 2016 against the Rockies (17 runs). Of the Nationals’ 15 runs scored, 14 were scored with two outs.
The Mets had an ugly string of events during the middle innings of a 9-1 loss to the Cardinals. Three errors lead to four unearned runs for starter Steven Matz.
New York #Mets Have Played “Buttoned Up” Baseball For The Most Part During This Fine 15-6 Start, But The Last Two Innings Have Included 3 Errors (Matz, Lobaton, Frazier), 5 Hits, 2 BB, 1 HBP Very Uncharacteristic 3 R In 3rd 4 In 4th 4 Unearned Runs. Cardinals 7 #NYM 1 T5th #LGM
— James Piccoli (@JamesPiccoli) April 26, 2018
Highlight
Top prospect Ronald Acuna Jr. recorded his first MLB hit and scored his first big-league run in the Braves’ 5-4 win over the Reds.
There’s nothing like your first hit in the bigs!#ChopOn pic.twitter.com/GK7S7usZij
— Atlañta Braves (@Braves) April 26, 2018
What’s next
Diamondbacks (16-7) at Phillies (15-8), 1:05 p.m.: Matt Koch (0-0, 1.13 ERA) and Ben Lively (0-1, 4.64) will battle in Thursday’s game broadcasted live on Facebook. Both pitchers are coming off one-run outings but Arizona tagged Lively for three runs last season.
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