Fresh off a season high-tying run output, the visiting Miami Marlins will hope they have more in the tank on Sunday afternoon when they square off against right-hander Drew Rasmussen and the Tampa Bay Rays.
Jesus Sanchez belted a three-run homer and drove in a career-high five runs as Miami posted an 11-10 victory in 10 innings on Saturday.
Heriberto Hernandez had an RBI single to shallow center field in the 10th inning to even the three-game series at one win apiece.
The Marlins benefited from five players recording at least two hits and five players scoring at least two runs. And keeping with the theme surrounding the number five, the power surge allowed Miami to snap a five-game skid.
Former Rays minor-leaguer Xavier Edwards drove in two runs and made a nifty grab of Jose Caballero’s grounder before throwing out Kameron Misner at the plate in the 10th inning.
“I think that was probably one of the more entertaining games of the year,” Edwards said. “It had a bit of everything. Had some misplayed balls, a lot of hits, a lot of hitting, a lot of runs. Some good pitching at the end. I think that was a baseball fan’s dream, honestly.”
The Marlins hope to avoid a nightmare against Rasmussen (5-4, 2.14 ERA), who is riding a scoreless innings streak of 23 during his four-game winning streak.
Rasmussen began that streak by scattering four hits over six frames in a 4-0 victory over Miami on May 17. He sports a 2-0 record with a 1.80 ERA in five career appearances (three starts) versus the Marlins.
Rasmussen’s last start was a thing of beauty, as he allowed just one hit and struck out eight over five frames in a 5-1 home win over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday.
“He’s one of the best right-handed starters in the game,” Rays pitching coach Kyle Snyder said, per the Tampa Bay Times. “I think that the stats would back that up at this point.”
He has permitted 10 hits and struck out 21 while walking just three during his last four starts.
“What’s the most impressive is that it looks really easy for him,” fellow Rays pitcher Zack Littell said of Rasmussen, per the Tampa Bay Times.
Miami left-hander Anthony Veneziano (0-0, 4.58) will make his first career start on Sunday.
Veneziano struck out two in one scoreless inning of relief on Friday.
He’d be wise to pitch carefully around Christopher Morel, who went deep twice to highlight Tampa Bay’s season high-tying five-homer performance on Saturday.
Danny Jansen, who matched Morel with three hits on Saturday, joined Taylor Walls and Brandon Lowe in going deep for the Rays. Unfortunately for Tampa Bay, it saw its four-game winning streak come to a halt.
Miami starter Ryan Weathers was struck in the head by catcher Nick Fortes’ throw following the final warmup pitch prior to the bottom of the first inning.
“Everything right now seems OK,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said of Weathers, who pitched three innings before being taken out for “precautionary reasons.”
–Field Level Media
