Split-second decisions cost Marlins extra-innings game
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MIAMI -- Split-second decisions in a game can be the difference between a win and a loss.
Take for instance the following two moments from Monday night’s 7-6 Marlins defeat to the Cardinals in 12 innings at loanDepot park.
Sending him home
After Nick Gordon cut the deficit to one on a leadoff RBI triple in the 12th, St. Louis thwarted the rally with a stellar defensive play.
Right fielder Dylan Carlson caught Tim Anderson’s lineout 269 feet from home plate and fired to catcher Pedro Pagés, who applied the tag for the Majors’ only sac fly double play in extra innings this season. Gordon reached a sprint speed of 28 ft/sec. (27 ft/sec. is league average), but Carlson’s 91.5 mph throw reached Pagés without a bounce.
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The Marlins executed a similar play on June 7, when Dane Myers threw out the potential go-ahead run in the eighth inning in an eventual win over the Guardians.
“I trust my coaches and trust Gordon,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “He's got good speed. I know DC's got a good arm in right. We know that. Took a perfect throw to get him out, and again, if there wasn't speed on third base, maybe [not]. But I don't second guess. [Third-base coach] Griffin [Benedict] does his homework, and Gordon has been around for a while. Good speed, thought it was the right play.”
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Clubs will go over game plans for the opposition before a series begins, and those include information on outfielders’ arms. Gordon, who was seeing the ball through the infield, wanted to be aggressive.
Entering the series opener, the Marlins’ 20 games scoring one or fewer runs was tied with the White Sox. During the weekend sweep in Washington, Miami tallied two combined runs across three games.
“Obviously it wasn't close when I got thrown out, but in that situation, he's got to make a good throw,” Gordon said. “He's got to make a perfect throw. He's got to be good. And at the end of the day, we are professionals, but he's still got to make a play. We've been in a little bit of a rut, so we're trying to get something going and just kind of really trying to make plays, make something happen.”
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Not going with Scott
Schumaker stuck with right-hander Calvin Faucher as he struggled with wildness during St. Louis’ three-run eighth rather than sending out closer Tanner Scott, who had been warming in the bullpen.
Masyn Winn ambushed Faucher's cutter to open the eighth for a single up the middle before the left-handed-hitting Nolan Gorman replaced the right-handed-hitting José Fermín. Gorman struck out, then Paul Goldschmidt walked. After Nolan Arenado flied out, Faucher uncorked his second wild pitch of the inning to put two runners into scoring position.
Schumaker kept Faucher out there to face the right-handed-hitting Iván Herrera, who entered with better splits against righties (.283/.339/.381 in 125 PA) than lefties (.255/.328/.333 in 58 PA). Those fall in line with his career numbers as well (.274/.345/.357 vs. .242/.314/.307).
“Herrera was at the plate and if they pinch-hit at all, they had three lefties still on the bench,” Schumaker said. “I didn't want to get caught. I liked the right-right matchup. Faucher has been good all year, and I'd hate to go to Tanner in a tie game. If it's a winning game, probably go to him. But we've been running these guys out pretty hard, especially after the second game in Washington, so I didn't feel like four outs right there.”
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Due to Miami’s record, Scott’s usage has been inconsistent this season. The last time he took the mound was Thursday, when he surrendered a two-run walk-off homer to J.D. Martinez. Schumaker hasn’t been shy about turning to Scott for four outs or more, doing so last Tuesday for Scott’s first career six-out save. But that’s not something Schumaker would like to make a habit of.
So on the sixth pitch of the at-bat, Herrera fought off a cutter and dropped it into right field, where both runs scored. Donovan followed with an RBI single to make it a three-run ballgame. After another walk, this time to Carlson, lefty Kent Emanuel took over for Faucher.
“Pitch probably got away from where Faucher maybe didn't want it, and credit to Herrera, he got the hit,” Schumaker said.
Bryan De La Cruz would bail out Faucher with a then-game-tying three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth.