If Magneuris Sierra and the Miami Marlins were looking for special souvenirs to bring home from their extra long road trip, they found them with a big extra-inning win and a hold on first place.
Sierra on Wednesday night hit a go-ahead single in the 10th inning and the Marlins overcame Toronto’s seven home runs to outlast the Blue Jays 14-11 in the final game of their season-opening, three-week odyssey.
“It seems like the perfect game to end this trip, a game out of the ordinary,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said.
Photo: AP
After this detour to Sahlen Field, Miami finally gets to play its pandemic-delayed opener at Marlins Park.
Miami has an off day before facing the Atlanta Braves for three games to start a seven-game homestand.
The Marlins’ grueling road swing began on July 21 with a trip to Atlanta for a pair of exhibition games and moved on to Philadelphia for a season-opening, three-game series.
The Marlins’ return home was delayed by a COVID-19 outbreak, forcing seven games to be postponed and a quarantine in Philadelphia.
Despite the travel woes, the Marlins have had at least a share of first place in the National League East every day so far this season.
“This trip had a little bit of everything, right? We’ve hung in there. We’ve played pretty good ball,” Mattingly said. “We had a disaster at the beginning in Philly. I don’t know how to describe it.”
“We had a fire alarm at the hotel last night at midnight. It just goes on and on, right? And then this game. It was a good trip from the standpoint of wins,” he said.
Up 8-0 early, the Marlins watched Toronto rally to tie it. Marlins outfielder Jon Berti scored on Sierra’s two-run single that made it 13-11.
“It will be exciting to get home and play in Miami,” Berti said. “What we went through is only going to make us stronger.”
Bo Bichette went 5 for 5 for the Blue Jays, a day after homering during a 10-inning win in their first game at their new Buffalo home.
He connected again as Toronto became the fourth team in major league history to lose while slugging at least seven homers.
The Marlins are the first National League team to win a game while allowing seven home runs.
Jesus Aguilar drove in four runs with three hits, including an RBI single in the 10th.
Travis Shaw hit two homers for the Blue Jays, including the 100th of his career. Teoscar Hernandez, Rowdy Tellez and Danny Jansen each hit two-run homers while Vladimir Guerrero Jr and Bichette added solo shots.
The last time a team lost while hitting at least seven homers was on June 25, 2016, when the Chicago White Sox hit seven and fell to Toronto.
Stats by STATS reported that the Blue Jays are the first team in MLB history to have at least 18 hits and seven home runs in a game and still lose.
In addition, Bichette became the first shortstop in the modern era to reach base safely six times, hit a home run and steal two bases in the same game.
In other games on Wednesday, it was:
‧ Mets 11, Nationals 6
‧ Athletics 8, Angels 4
‧ Cubs 7, Indians 2
‧ Dodgers 6, Padres 0
‧ Rangers 7, Mariners 4
‧ White Sox 7, Tigers 5
‧ Diamondbacks 13, Rockies 7
‧ Rays 9, Red Sox 5
‧ Orioles 5, Phillies 4
‧ Astros 5, Giants 1
‧ Yankees 6, Braves 3
‧ Twins 12, Brewers 2
‧ Royals 5, Reds 4
Additional reporting by Reuters
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