Jonathan Villar hit a first-pitch leadoff homer to spark a robust offensive performance by the Miami Marlins, who on Thursday night beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-7 to complete a startling four-game sweep and make Don Mattingly the winningest manager in franchise history.
Villar had three hits and Brian Anderson drove in three runs for the upstart Marlins, who emerged from a team-wide COVID-19 outbreak to dominate the Orioles and forge the best winning percentage in the big leagues.
Miami are 6-1 and in first place in the National League East despite putting 18 players on the injured list before the series opener on Tuesday.
Photo: AP
The Marlins were the “home” team, because this was a makeup of a July 28 game that was to be held in Miami but postponed in the wake of the Marlins’ outbreak.
Batting in the bottom of the seventh, the Marlins broke a 6-6 tie with a sacrifice fly by Jesus Aguilar off Evan Phillips (1-1) and an RBI triple by Anderson.
Mike Morin (1-0) pitched two shutout innings and Brandon Kintzler worked the ninth for his third save.
In other news, Oakland Athletics bench coach Ryan Christenson on Thursday apologized for raising his arm during a postgame celebration in what looked like a Nazi salute.
Christenson made the gesture while greeting closer Liam Hendriks following the A’s 6-4 win over the Texas Rangers.
Hendriks immediately pushed Christenson’s arm down, and cameras showed him laughing and briefly raising his arm a second time.
Christenson faced criticism after video of the gesture circulated on social media.
“I made a mistake and will not deny it,” Christenson said in a statement issued through the team. “Today in the dugout I greeted players with a gesture that was offensive. In the world today of COVID, I adapted our elbow bump, which we do after wins, to create some distance with the players. My gesture unintentionally resulted in a racist and horrible salute that I do not believe in. What I did is unacceptable and I deeply apologize.”
The A’s called the gesture “offensive” and apologized for it.
“We do not support or condone this gesture or the racist sentiment behind it,” the team said in a statement. “This is incredibly offensive, especially in these times when we as a club and so many others are working to expose and address racial inequities in our country. We are deeply sorry that this happened on our playing field.”
Also on Thursday, it was:
‧ Angels 6, Mariners 1
‧ Brewers 8, White Sox 3
‧ Braves 4, Blue Jays 3
‧ Pirates 6, Twins 5
‧ Phillies 5, Yankees 4
‧ Indians 13, Reds 0
‧ Diamondbacks 5, Astros 4
‧ Rockies 6, Giants 4
‧ Royals 13, Cubs 2
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