Harold Ramirez hits walk-off home run against Twins

The Miami Marlins found themselves in the same position as they were in the previous game, down multiple runs in the bottom of the ninth facing a Minnesota Twins reliever that’s not the closer. Unlike on Wednesday, the Marlins emerged on top with a 5-4 walk-off win in 12 innings on Thursday to avoid the series sweep.

Former Marlins pitcher Sam Dyson, who was recently traded to Minnesota, entered the game in the ninth inning tasked to protect a 4-1 lead. He walked Curtis Granderson to lead off the inning. A single by Martin Prado put runners at the corners and a base hit by Jon Berti cut the lead to 4-2.

Brian Anderson, who hit a grand slam on Wednesday, walked to load up the bases for Neil Walker. Twins closer Taylor Rogers replaced Dyson but a ground ball by Walker barely went by the shortstop and scored two runs to tie the game at 4-4.

Similar to his previous appearance, Rogers ended the inning with three consecutive strikeouts. Marlins reliever Jeff Brigham got his first career win by throwing two perfect innings in the 11th and 12th with two strikeouts, keeping the game tied for Harold Ramirez to hit a walk-off home run in the bottom half of the 12th inning.

“I really just tried to get on base,” Ramirez said. “I didn’t try to do too much, because we needed somebody to get on base.”

The Marlins lost a one-run game on Tuesday, made it interesting at the end on Wednesday after a terrible start by their lone All-Star and won in extra innings by coming back in the ninth against a team that built itself into a playoff caliber squad with a young foundation and veteran producers. Miami could very well be where Minnesota currently is within the next few years.

“All I can say is, they’ve got a lot of good, young players,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “They remind me of Tampa. A team that up and down the lineup, they’ve got good players. They might not all be household names at this point. But when you’re trying to get them out, there’s a lot of good players there.