Ramirez's 12th-inning blast pulls Marlins past Reds
Rookie Harold Ramirez led off the 12th inning with a walk-off homer, and the Miami Marlins defeated the Cincinnati Reds 4-3 on Thursday night.
Ramirez hit a 1-1 pitch from closer Raisel Iglesias (2-10). It was Ramirez's eighth homer of the season and his second walk-off dinger.
Despite the loss, the Reds won the season series 6-1. The Marlins captured only the finale of the just-concluded four-game series.
Miami scored all of its runs Thursday on solo homers, as Jon Berti, Austin Dean and Starlin Castro also went deep.
Aristides Aquino starred for the Reds with a two-run homer and an RBI single among three hits. The long ball was Aquino's 14th in August, giving him the all-time National League rookie record for a single month. The Los Angeles Dodgers' Cody Bellinger set the old mark with 13 homers in June 2017.
Making just his second major league appearance, Marlins starter Robert Dugger was in line for his first win before his bullpen let him down in the eighth inning. Dugger allowed three hits, one walk and two unearned runs while striking out seven in seven innings.
Dugger concluded his 106-pitch effort by getting out of a two-on, two-out jam. The final batter Dugger faced was Jose Iglesias, and the two of them engaged in an epic, 13-pitch battle. Iglesias fouled off nine straight fastballs. He then took two balls to force a full count before Dugger struck him out swinging at a slider in the dirt.
Cincinnati starter Alex Wood had got a no-decision, allowing six hits, two walks and three runs -- all on solo homers in six-plus innings. He struck out a season-high eight batters.
Cincinnati scored two unearned runs in the first inning. Marlins center fielder Lewis Brinson dropped Joey Votto's fly ball for a two-base error, leading the way for Aquino's two-out, two-run homer.
Berti led off the bottom of the first by going with the pitch -- a 0-1 changeup on the outside corner -- and smacking it over the right field fence. It was his sixth homer of the year and his third leading off a Marlins first inning.
The Marlins tied the score 2-2 in the fifth on Dean's third homer of the season.
Miami took a 3-2 lead in the sixth as Castro fouled three straight pitches before winning a 10-pitch battle with Wood. Castro crushed an opposite-field dinger for his 14th homer of the season.
Cincinnati tied the score in the eighth. After getting the first two outs in the inning, Marlins reliever Jarlin Garcia allowed a Votto single. Marlins closer Ryne Stanek was summoned, but he allowed a walk to Eugenio Suarez and Aquino's RBI single -- a hard shot off the glove of second baseman Isan Diaz.
Ramirez's homer made a winner out of reliever Tyler Kinley (3-1), who pitched two scoreless innings.
--Field Level Media
