Miami Marlins rally past Chicago White Sox 6-5
CHICAGO - While the Miami Marlins were putting together another dramatic rally, Bryan De La Cruz started clamoring for an opportunity in a big moment.
When he got the chance he wanted, he delivered.
De La Cruz capped Miami's three-run ninth inning with a two-run double, and the Marlins beat the Chicago White Sox 6-5 on Sunday.
"I was feeling like the adrenaline of the momentum of the game just flowing all over me," De La Cruz said through a translator, "and I told the guys I wanted to get the at-bat. I want to be the hero of the game."
Jorge Soler hit two of Miami's four solo homers, helping the Marlins take the rubber game of the weekend set. Garrett Cooper and Jean Segura also connected.
It was Miami's fifth comeback win in its last seven games and No. 20 on the season. The Marlins scored five times in the ninth inning of a 5-1 victory on Saturday.
"I think they believe that they're in it at all times," Miami manager Skip Schumaker said, "and once you win from behind a couple times early in the season, then you know you can do it."
The Marlins won for the eighth time in nine games overall. They are off to their best start since they also were 37-29 in 2004.
Bryan Hoeing (1-1) pitched a scoreless inning for the win, and A.J. Puk worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his seventh save.
"This team's just so much fun," said Braxton Garrett, who struck out a season-high nine in 5 1/3 scoreless innings. "No matter who's coming in in the ninth, what the score is, we feel like we have a chance," he said.
Luis Robert Jr. hit a two-run homer for Chicago, which led 5-1 after seven innings. Romy González hit a tiebreaking two-run double in the sixth, and Jake Burger also had a run-scoring double.
The White Sox wasted a sharp performance by Lucas Giolito, who struck out eight while pitching seven innings of one-run ball. The lanky right-hander is 4-2 with a 3.40 ERA in his last seven starts.
"Definitely didn't have my best stuff, but we were able to sequence well and locate well and navigate through the lineup," Giolito said.
Soler and Cooper started Miami's rally with solo drives in the eighth against Keynan Middleton. It was No. 19 on the year for Soler, who finished with three hits.
Segura led off the ninth with a drive that banged off the foul pole in left for his first homer with Miami. Jonathan Davis reached on catcher interference on Seby Zavala with one out, and Soler was walked by Kendall Graveman (1-3) on a full-count pitch with two down.
De La Cruz then came up and hit a hard grounder down the third-base line for his 14th double of the season. Graveman had a string of 16 consecutive scoreless appearances before his trouble in the ninth.
"This one hurts. Heartbreaker," manager Pedro Grifol said.
Chicago played without closer Liam Hendriks, who was placed on the 15-day injured list with elbow inflammation. The three-time All-Star also missed the start of the season while he recovered from non-Hodgkin lymphoma.