Marlins push Twins to verge of elimination with 13-inning win

MINNEAPOLIS -- Don’t tell Marlins manager Skip Schumaker his club isn’t playing for anything.

Over the last three series, it has been a balancing act of putting an inexperienced roster in situations to see how it fits into the organization’s 2025 plans, while also impacting the postseason race.

Thursday night’s 8-6 victory over the Twins in a season-long 13 innings at Target Field was a masterclass. By taking two of three in the series, Miami dropped Minnesota three back in the American League Wild Card race with three games remaining.

“I'm just really proud of the guys for the fight and against a team that was still trying to get in the playoffs,” Schumaker said. “I'm just really proud of the guys being so late in the season, out of it, out of contention, 100 losses, and you would never know it with the way they're celebrating right now. So it shows a lot of character inside that clubhouse.

“Out of respect for the game, you try to win the game. We've been trying to disrupt the situation in certain divisions and playoff races, whether it was the Dodgers, the Braves or the Twins. And I felt like we tried to do everything we could to win today's game. The players did that. It was nothing I did. The players executed in leverage spots and made great plays when they had to, made pitches when they had to, and put together the at-bats when they needed it. They played it like it was a playoff game, and just proud of the outcome, obviously.”

Full steam ahead
Outside of a two-week period earlier this month when he missed time with a left shoulder impingement, Derek Hill has seen the majority of the center-field action since being claimed off waivers from the Giants on Aug. 3.

Pregame, Schumaker said the organization knew Hill could hit lefties (career .846 OPS entering Friday), but wanted to see what he could do against righties (.510 career OPS). It also doesn’t hurt that he plays a solid center field.

Never was that more evident than in the 10th inning. With Miami clinging to a one-run lead with the bases loaded and one out, Willi Castro rocketed a ball to straightaway center. Hill, who was playing shallow at 295 feet with the tying run 90 feet away, raced backwards with a 29 ft/sec sprint speed -- 30 ft/sec is considered elite -- to cover 118 feet and make a jumping catch on the warning track.

Only one run would score on the play, as Michael Petersen retired the next batter to send the game to the 11th.

“I thought it was going to be off the wall, so I was like, ‘This is going to hurt a little bit because we're going into the wall. Automatic,’” Hill said. “It just kind of hung up a little bit, and for some reason, it peeled back towards center. I don't know if he inside-outed [it] a little bit or whatnot, but I was able to get a glove on it and help the team pull out this W.”

Fab Five
With the bases loaded and one out in the 11th inning of a tie ballgame, Schumaker replaced Hill with rookie Javier Sanoja … so he could go with a five-man infield. It’s a strategy the Cardinals executed several times while he was the bench coach in St. Louis.

The reasoning behind it this time around was simple enough: rookie Anthony Maldonado, who would go on to pick up his first Major League win, has a good slider. The hope was that the right-handed-hitting Royce Lewis would pull the offering to the crowded left side of the infield.

Lewis did just that on the fourth pitch of the at-bat, and Sanoja, the center fielder playing in the vicinity of shortstop with the infield drawn in, charged the ball and made a running throw home that backup catcher Jhonny Pereda picked for the unusual 8-2 forceout. Carlos Santana would then fly out to Sanoja, who had switched his infield glove for an outfield one between plate appearances.

Sanoja, who has started just once in the past week, is valuable because of his defensive versatility; he has played second, short, center and left so far in the Majors.

“You've got to be ready in any situation like that, mostly with a glove,” Sanoja said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. “I was warm the inning before to get ready, and I was ready for it. The situation in the game, he just came to me, and I was able to make the play.”