5 Takeaways from Marlins’ Series Split vs. Giants

Coming off a disappointing series against the Colorado Rockies earlier in the week, the Miami Marlins looked to bounce back and defend their home field against the visiting San Francisco Giants over the weekend.

Miami won the first and third games of the series, but failed to close out the series win on Sunday as they lost 5-1 and ended up splitting the four-game series against San Francisco. 

The Marlins don’t play the Giants anymore in 2022, with the exception of  a miracle postseason berth, and finish 3-7 against them.

It was a very up-and-down series for the Marlins which also fittingly sums up their season so far.

Here are five takeaways from the series.

Sandy Alcantara throws another gem

Does this really come as a surprise? It seems like every start, starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara racks up eight or so strikeouts and gives up no more than one run. 

In the series-opening game against the Giants, Alcantara tallied eight strikeouts and pitched a shutout in seven innings. 

After his phenomenal performance, Alcantara’s ERA sunk down to a staggering 1.81 which is fourth in the MLB and second in the National League.  

Elieser Hernandez pitched his way out of the rotation

Starting pitcher Elieser Hernandez has really struggled this season. His 6.75 ERA is the worst among Miami starters and he has given up a total of 18 home runs all year, the most in the MLB. 

Hernandez’s outing against the Giants was probably the worst in his career. In the second game of the series, the Marlins opted to go with an opener to start the game. 

Left-handed relief pitcher Richard Bleier opened the game for Miami and didn’t pitch great. Bleier looked uncomfortable because he had been so used to coming out of the bullpen throughout his career, so opening a game was not what he had in mind. 

Hernandez would then come out of the bullpen in the second inning and he didn’t have an answer for shutting down the San Francisco hitters. Hernandez gave up eight hits and eight earned runs through 4.1 innings of work. Miami lost that game 15-6 and Hernandez was sent down to Triple-A.

“He hasn’t been able to gain any traction through the course of the season,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said about moving Hernandez to Triple-A. “I felt like the best thing for him is to get him down, get reset, let him get refocused, and let him work on things without the pressure of being in a big league game.”

Garrett Cooper is heating up, but where’s everyone else?

First baseman Garrett Cooper has been the lone bright spot in the Marlins’ offense during the series and was a big part in Miami’s come-from-behind 5-4 victory in game 3. 

During the three games he played in the series, Cooper went 7-for-14 and hit an opposite-field solo home run during the series finale. 

Cooper has been starting to get it going offensively and it’s been great to see. 

As for everyone else, the bats have been fairly quiet during the series. There’ve been too many strikeouts and not enough production with runners in scoring position. Also, where has the long ball been? Just one home run through four games. I know the ball flies at Coors Field, but even in Miami, the Marlins haven’t had a problem hitting the ball into the stands. 

Giants had too many extra-base hits

It felt as if every hit the Giants had in the series was an extra-base hit. Doubles, home runs, and triples were being sent all around the ballpark. 

Over the four-game series, the Giants had a total of 17 extra-base hits.

Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford even recorded a triple in the third game and if you’ve seen Crawford run, he’s not exactly Rickey Henderson out there. 

Sure, LoanDepot Park is a big ballpark and it’s easy to get a triple if you hit the ball deep enough into the corner like Crawford did. But also, the pitcher has to make sure that those types of hits don’t happen and the outfielders need to be quick to react to the ball.

The Walk-Off Helmet

In the third game of the series, the Marlins beat the Giants in the bottom of the ninth with a walk-off sacrifice fly by outfielder Jesus Sanchez that was deep enough to score third baseman Luke Williams with ease. 

In typical walk-off fashion, the players chased Sanchez around the field and showered him with sunflower seeds. But, is that a football helmet on his head? 

We’ve seen crazy walk off celebrations over the years but the football helmet has to be a first. 

Do I get it? No. Do the players look like they’re happy? Sure. And that’s all that matters, right?

Up next for the Marlins is a three-game series against the Washington Nationals.

That series will be played from Tuesday through Thursday at LoanDepot Park. 

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Photo by Tony Capobianco