The Miami Marlins won another baseball game. Their 18th game of the year, before the end of May. The team they played, the San Francisco Giants (21-32) lost their sixth game in a row.
One of the teams had to win.
Jorge Alfaro and Garrett Cooper hit the Marlins’ first three-run homers of the year Tuesday in an 11-3 win over the Giants.
Trevor Richards (2-5) gave up a home run to Joe Panik on the game’s first pitch but stymied San Francisco after that. He allowed two hits and one run in seven innings for the Marlins (18-34), who earned their eighth victory in 11 games but still have the worst record in the National League.
“I just try to get a good pitch and try to hit the ball hard,” Alfaro said. “After that, I can not control anything.”
Alfaro hit his eighth homer in the fifth to make the score 7-1, and Cooper added his third homer in the sixth. The Marlins had no three-run homers in their first 51 games.
Miami improved to 10-4 against the Giants since 2017.
“Anytime you get more guys swinging the bat, it lengthens your line up, and puts more pressure on the pitcher,” manager Don Mattingly said. “You are not hitting three-run homers if guys are not getting on base.”
Eventually, things are only getting better. Before the game, the Marlins are 9-17 on their home turf. Miami has slugged .325, last in the league. Alfaro leads the club with a .424 slugging percentage, including nine extra-base hits and seven home runs.
The Giants are searching for themselves in the mirror. Jeff Samardzija (2-4) lost his third start in a row. He allowed a season-high five earns runs in four-plus innings, matching his shortest outing of the year.
Before the game, the Giants were 11-13 in road games. The San Francisco pitching staff had a team ERA of 4.62.
The beat goes on.
Giants: LHP Madison Bumgarner (3-4. 4.10), who will start the second game of the series Wednesday, he’s 2-0 in five starts in May.
Marlins: RHP Pablo Lopez (3-5, 5.40) will start against the Giants for the first time.
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