The Miami Marlins made it a comeback win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Miguel Rojas’ BobbleHead night.
The first 10,000 fans in attendance received a Rojas Bobblehead. There were more in presence to witness the fish rally from a five-run deficit and beat Philadelphia for the fifth consecutive time, the final score 9-6.
“The guys kept playing today,” manager Don Mattingly said. “That was a good baseball game. A lot of good of action back and forth, guys kept battling, a lot of good at-bats.”
Saturday’s deficit was the largest erased by Miami in a victory this year. The numbers don’t lie, yes the Marlins currently have the worst record in the National League, but they’re 7-5 against the Phillies.
The Marlins were down 6-1 before the party began in the sixth inning. Neil Walker was happy to end a 0-for-15 streak with a two-run home run in the inning. He added an RBI single in Miami’s six-run seventh, and JT Riddle delivered a tiebreaking two-run double off Adam Morgan (2-3).
In the first 41 games of the season, Marlins began 10-31, averaged 2.6 runs per game, .597 OPS and 4.38 SP ERA. In the last 40 games, 22-18 overall, 4.6 runs per game, .718 OPS and 3.45 SP ERA.
With the second half of the season upon us, the hope is winning gets more fans in the seats.
At the halfway point in their season, the Marlins are averaging 9,348 fans per home game, which puts them on pace for the lowest average attendance in the majors since the Expos’ 7,935 in 2001.
Attendance was 14,774 — the largest this month at Marlins Park. The Chicago Cubs average that in the bleacher seats, but who is comparing.
“The crowd was awesome,” Riddle said. “We need more crowds like that.”
The Rojas Bobblehead was just as impressive as the Marlins win. The Bobblehead made an appearance in the Marlins dugout. However, did not survive through the comeback win.
“It was cool, the Bobblehead was right in the dugout for a couple of innings,” Rojas said. “They posted on the railing, at some point the Bobblehead went down off the railing, the bat cracked, my head flying all over the place. It was fun.”
Miami’s pitching battled, rookie Jordan Yamamoto, the first Marlins pitcher to win his first three career starts, had that streak end when he allowed four runs in four innings. Jarlin Garcia (2-0) worked a scoreless seventh, and Sergio Romo pitched a perfect ninth for his 15th save.
The beat goes on,
For the Phillies, RHP Jake Arrieta (7-6, 4.33), who is scheduled to start the series finale. For the fish, RHP Trevor Richards (3-8, 3.94) is tied for the National League lead in losses even though opponents are batting only .233 against him.
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