Marlins 12-game losing streak ends on Griffin Conine walk-off hit
Griffin Conine’s first career walk-off single gave Miami an 8-7 win over Philadelphia after a ninth-inning rally.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
Griffin Conine ended the Marlins 12-game losing streak with one swing Monday in Miami, driving in Heriberto Hernández for an 8-7 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, according to ESPN News Services.
The run-scoring single was the first walk-off hit of Conine’s career and snapped what ESPN reported was the longest losing run in Marlins franchise history. Miami had not won since July 9.
Philadelphia closer Jhoan Duran entered the ninth with a 7-5 lead, but the inning unraveled fast. ESPN reported that Duran loaded the bases without recording an out, then gave up Hernández’s two-run single to tie the game before Conine finished it.
Duran, who fell to 1-4, was charged with his second blown save in 26 chances, according to the report. Hernández, who had tied the score, came around with the decisive run on Conine’s hit.
How did the Marlins end their 12-game losing streak?
Miami trailed by two runs entering the ninth, then used a bases-loaded rally against Duran to turn a 7-5 deficit into an 8-7 victory. A walk-off hit ends a game immediately when the home team scores the winning run in its final turn at bat.
ESPN Research reported that Miami became the first club since the 2002 Devil Rays to stop a losing streak of at least 12 games after being down by two or more runs going into the ninth. ESPN Research also said the Marlins were the first team since the 2006 Pirates to end a skid of 12 or more games with a walk-off win.
The comeback capped a game that had already swung hard in both directions. Hernández and Conine each homered off Phillies ace Zack Wheeler, while Jakob Marsee added a run-scoring double and Otto Lopez hit an RBI triple for Miami, according to ESPN News Services.
The Marlins jumped on Wheeler early, building a 5-2 lead through the first two innings. Wheeler lasted three innings, allowing six hits and striking out six, according to the report.
Philadelphia grabbed the game back in the sixth. Bryce Harper opened the inning with a walk against Cade Gibson and scored on Alec Bohm’s single, trimming Miami’s lead to 5-3.
J.T. Realmuto followed with a fly ball off Tyler Zuber that bounced over the right-field wall for a double, pulling the Phillies within one. Justin Crawford then singled home Bryson Stott, and Realmuto was awarded the go-ahead run on a throwing error by Hernández, according to ESPN News Services.
Harper had put the Phillies in front earlier with his 22nd home run of the season, a 419-foot, two-run shot off Miami starter Tyler Phillips in the first inning, according to the report.
Phillips gave Miami five innings, allowing three hits and two runs with two walks and five strikeouts. He exited after 76 pitches. Calvin Faucher worked a scoreless ninth and earned the win, improving to 5-5.
The result added to Philadelphia’s rough stretch after the All-Star break. ESPN reported that the Phillies have lost seven of their past 10 games.
This story draws on original reporting from ESPN.com.