Rookies Hernandez, Pauley homer to help Marlins outlast Astros, avoid sweep
Six of the first seven Marlins batters singled off Astros starter Spencer Arrighetti in the first inning Wednesday, giving the Marlins more hits and as many runs (three) as they had in all of Tuesday's loss — and they were just getting started.
They added a run in the second and third innings, and eventually held on to beat the Astros 7-6 at loanDepot park, avoiding a sweep before heading out on an 11-game road trip against the Braves, Guardians, and Red Sox.
Trailing 2-0 early Wednesday, the Marlins were up for the challenge.
'It continues to speak to their resiliency, their ability to respond,' Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. 'And to go down as we did, [starter] Janson [Junk] then really buckled down and gave us five solid innings. And offensively, we were certainly much better in the early going today in this game than in the previous couple of days.
'Really good job working at-bats. A lot of traffic on the bases and moving the ball around to a lot of places on the field. To score some runs and punch back there was good. Now you're back in the fight. We were showing the resiliency this group has shown on a number of occasions. So, a really good sign again for our guys to come back and win this game, finish off the homestand with a winning record [4-2] before we head to a tough stretch of [five] games in four days there coming up in Atlanta.'
Edwards was the ultimate table setter for the Marlins on Wednesday, as the leadoff man went 4-for-5 with two runs scored.
Rookies Hernández and Graham Pauley both homered — Hernández went deep to 391 feet to left center in the third and Pauley drilled a pitch 394 feet to right center in the fifth.
And reliever Calvin Faucher made the defensive play of the day to help himself escape a jam in the eighth inning. With one out, he charged Cam Smith's grounder near the third-base line, backhanded it with his glove, leapt into the air, and fired an off-balance strike to catcher Agustín Ramírez, who tagged out Walker sliding into home.
'Calvin tells us all the time how phenomenal of an athlete he is,' McCullough said. 'And he got to put that on display tonight.'
Junk, meanwhile, allowed three runs on five hits with two strikeouts and two walks in five innings
He allowed back-to-back doubles to Mauricio Dubón and Carlos Correa in the fifth inning. And in the first inning, Christian Walker hammered a fastball 417 feet to left center off him, bringing home former Marlin Jesús Sánchez after his double.
The Marlins quickly erased that 2-0 deficit, though, with Hicks, Lopez, and Hernández each collecting an RBI.
'Absolutely, it was really good offense for the team in that inning,' Hernández said via team interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. 'He was throwing a lot of fastballs. So, we pretty much made him go to secondary pitches. It's a pretty good feeling when you start hitting like that. … With the record of the series after we lost the first two, we were really looking forward to winning this game after that.'
Left-hander Ryan Weathers, on the 60-day injured list with a left lat strain, threw a bullpen session Wednesday. 'It was exciting to watch. Ryan looked great. He's in a really good place right now, mentally, physically,' said McCullough, adding Weathers would travel with the team to Atlanta. 'We're very excited with how this has come along considering where things were a few months ago.'
McCullough said the team is 'cautiously optimistic' Weathers will return to pitch sometime this season.
'Not to try to put it out there that it's going to happen,' he noted. 'We're just excited it's even a possibility at this point And we'll just let how Ryan continues to feel and responds to increase in intensity and volume guide where that ends up taking us.'
The Marlins' projected starters for the Braves series are Eury Pérez (Thursday), Edward Cabrera (Friday), Sandy Alcantara (Saturday, Game 2), and Cal Quantrill (Sunday). The Game 1 starter for Saturday's doubleheader is still to be determined.
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