With a 6-5 win over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday night, the Miami Marlins successfully made progress toward not being the worst team in the NL East.
Miami jumped all over the Rockies early in Denver, leading 6-0 after two innings by virtue of four RBI from Jose Reyes and a mammoth two-run homer from Giancarlo Stanton. Stanton became the first player in MLB history to hit a home run in each of his first six games at a ballpark.
From there, it was all about hanging on: Nathan Eovaldi allowed six hits and four walks but just one run in 6.2 innings; Chad Gaudin got the last out of the seventh but allowed two runs without getting an out in the eighth; Heath Bell pitched a perfect eighth; and Scott Cishek gave up two runs in the ninth, but hung on for the save.
The win keeps the Marlins a half-game back of the Philadelphia Phillies for fourth place in the NL East.
Josh Johnson will attempt to give the Marlins a third straight win on Sunday. Drew Pomeranz will start for Colorado. First pitch is at 3:10 p.m. Eastern.
Read more on the Marlins at Fish Stripes and SB Nation Tampa Bay. Head over to Purple Row and SB Nation Denver for more on the Rockies. Baseball Nation is your source for news and analysis around Major League Baseball.