Marlins Win In 15 Inning Thriller
MIAMI (AP) — The Miami Marlins' walk-off win left Giancarlo Stanton limping.
Nick Green hit a game-winning sacrifice fly and Miami rallied for two runs in the 15th inning Monday night to beat the Mets 4-3, handing New York its fifth consecutive loss.
But the victory— only the Marlins' seventh all season — didn't leave them much in a mood to celebrate.
Stanton hobbled out of the game in the 10th inning with a strained right hamstring. Afterward he went on the 15-day disabled list, and he might be sidelined longer than that.
"We're enjoying this win," manager Mike Redmond said, "but at the same time, on Tuesday the reality will set in that he's not in the lineup anymore."
Stanton hit a tapper in front of the plate and clutched his leg just before crossing first base, fell face-first to the turf and then pounded the grass with his fist in anger. He said he heard a pop in his leg and fears the injury may be serious.
He's scheduled for an MRI exam Tuesday.
"Lovely," he said sarcastically. "We'll find out more in depth Tuesday, but anytime you go down it's not good."
The injury is a big blow for the team with the worst record in the majors. Stanton had recently shaken a long slump to start the season, hitting his first three homers of the year last weekend.
When he left the game, starting pitcher Jose Fernandez went to the clubhouse to check on him.
"He wasn't happy that he's not going to be here with us," Fernandez said. "He was getting hot and starting to swing the bat well. That hurts."
Without Stanton, the Marlins overcame a 3-2 deficit in the 15th to achieve their first two-game winning streak of the season.
Greg Dobbs singled with one out against Shaun Marcum (0-2), a starter working out of the bullpen after the Mets ran out of relievers. Justin Ruggiano walked and Rob Brantly hit an RBI single to right, with Dobbs barely beating the throw home.
Green followed with a fly ball to left field, and Ruggiano scored easily from third. Green also tied the game with a sac fly in the ninth.
Miami improved to 3-7 in one-run games and 1-2 in extra innings.
"I'm proud of these guys," Redmond said. "It has been tough. We've lost a lot of one-run games, and those can be devastating to a team. These guys are resilient. They keep battling."
The Mets went 1 for 18 with runners in scoring position. The lone hit was Ruben Tejada's infield single to score the tiebreaking run with two outs in the 15th.
"We just can't drive in any runs," manager Terry Collins said. "We played all the percentages we could play all game long, and nothing worked."
New York's other runs were driven in by John Buck, who tied a team record with his ninth home run in April. The Mets, who sorely missed David Wright's bat, have scored only 10 runs in the past five games.
Wright, bothered by a stiff neck, was held out of the starting lineup for the first time this year. He pinch-hit in the 13th and was called out on strikes to end the inning.
The game lasted 5 hours, 31 minutes. By the end, the crowd of 15,605 had dwindled into the hundreds. The Marlins, last in the majors in runs, won despite going 2 for 13 with runners in scoring position and grounding into five double plays.
New York closer Bobby Parnell was hurt by a defensive lapse and blew a save by allowing a run in the ninth, which prevented Matt Harvey from improving to 5-0.
With the Marlins trailing 2-1, Ruggiano led off the ninth with a double against Parnell. Center fielder Collin Cowgill, a ninth-inning replacement, misplayed a shallow fly hit by Brantly and let it drop for a single that advanced Ruggiano to third.
"I took a step back, and when I made the correction, it was too late," Cowgill said.
Green followed with a sacrifice fly to tie the game.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press
