The sign of hope was brought by Otto López, but the daily feeling of disillusionment now had Anthony Maldonado as its protagonist. Maldonado allowed a two-run homer by Spencer Torkelson in the eighth inning that helped the Tigers take the lead and defeat the Marlins 6-5 on Monday, at the start of the three-game series at Comerica Park in Detroit.
The Miami team, which was trying for the second time this season to achieve two consecutive victories after Sunday’s victory against the Philadelphia Phillies, seemed on its way to achieving it until the right-handed reliever of the fish felt the bite of his rival in that fateful episode.
Torkelson hit Maldonado with a slider at 85 miles per hour, he traveled 466 miles between left and center field, which found Cuban Andy Ibáñez in circulation, a hit that threw away the good work of the bullpen that had not been there since the fifth inning.
had allowed singles when starter Sixto Sánchez finished his work. Dominican Wenceel Pérez broke that spell with a double with one out and then scored on a hit by Ibáñez to leave the party for the Detroit first baseman.
It was another frustrating setback for the Marlins, who with a record of 11-32 remain at the bottom of their division and have the worst record in the Major Leagues.
Miami started behind on the scoreboard when the Tigers made three runs in the second inning, all unearned, against the Dominican Sánchez’s deliveries with a hit by Kerry Carpenter, a costly error by Vidal Bruján on a hit by Colt Keith, a walk to Zach McKinstry and a pair of consecutive hits by Carson Kelly and Riley Greene.
But the fish reacted to the pitches of starter Matt Manning, called up from Triple-A the same Monday, in the fifth inning, and tied the game when they got hits from Bruján, Bryan de la Cruz, and Jesús Sánchez, with a double interspersed by Josh Bell.
The match remained tied until the beginning of the eighth inning when, after a single by Nick Gordon, the Dominican Otto López lost the ball to reliever Alex Faedo between the left and center fields.
López, claimed by Miami in April on the list of available players from the San Francisco Giants, has been a flash of light in the midst of the offensive darkness of a team that gave up its former batting champion, Venezuelan Luis Arráez, two weeks ago.
In 17 games he has brought excitement to the lineup since he was called up from Triple-A and is averaging .313, with an OBP of .371 and an OPS of 1.027, with three home runs and six RBIs.
At 25 years old, López is also a versatile defensive player and has played in all positions in the field since he arrived, except first. Sánchez pitched four and two-thirds innings and allowed three runs with five hits. He struck out two and walked two.
Anderson is on the injured list
Before the game, the Marlins placed Tim Anderson on the 10-day injured list Monday with lower back tightness.
The team’s regular shortstop had already missed the previous two games with the same discomfort and evidently did not show enough progress to avoid being left out of the lineup.
Vidal Bruján started this Monday in that position against the Tigres and is expected to remain there until Anderson’s return.
The Fish also activated AJ Puk from the injured list on Monday.
Puk spent just over three weeks out of the team due to fatigue in his left shoulder. He was used as a starter earlier in the season because of injury problems in the rotation, but will now be used as a reliever.
