*Photo from the Miami Herald*
The east coast of Florida won this intra-state matchup. Jacob Stallings drove in two runs, Bryan De La Cruz homered, and the Miami Marlins rolled past the Tampa Bay Rays with a 7-1 win on Wednesday afternoon in St. Petersburg.
After losing the opening game, the Marlins won the finale to split the brief two game Florida series matchup with the Rays. 5 different hitters drove in a run for the Marlins, while Sandy Alcantara dominated on the mound to stymie the slumping Rays.
Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said of the win that "The starting pitching set the tone and then, obviously, we had some really good at-bats up and down the lineup. The bottom of the order was really effective."
Jon Berti got the scoring started for the Marlins in the second inning, making it 1-0 with an RBI single. Stallings then doubled the lead to 2-0 when Berti scored on his double. Jose Siri got the Rays on the board in the 3rd inning, making it 2-1 with an RBI single. In the 4th, Stallings made it 3-1 with a single that scored Garrett Hampson.
Dane Myers then extended the lead to 4-1 later in the 4th with a sac fly that scored Yuli Gurriel. Luis Arraez then made it a 5-1 game when he hit an RBI double that scored Berti. In the 5th inning, De La Cruz blasted a solo home run to center field to make it 6-1. In the 6th, Arraez drove in another run with an RBI single to make it a 7-1 score.
On the mound, Alcantara threw his second complete game of the season for the Marlins, who also snapped a 10 game road losing streak with the win. He allowed 5 hits and one walk, striking out 7 hitters while allowing just one run.
Stallings said of Alcantara that "He was more upbeat than I’ve really ever seen him on start day. He just had energy. You could just tell he was ready to go. He was freaking awesome. That kind of start has been building for him for a little while now, so it was great to see, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for us."
Zach Eflin allowed 5 runs on 7 hits and one walk in 4 innings for the Rays before departing with a knee injury. Calvin Faucher allowed two runs in 1 2/3 innings before 1 1/3 scoreless innings from Shawn Armstrong. Kevin Kelly and Robert Stephenson each threw a scoreless inning.
Rays manager Kevin Cash said of Eflin after the game that "I'm happy that he said something and said, ‘Look, it's sore.’ We've got to protect all of them. The last thing we want him to do, with a guy that's had some knee issues in the past, is to go out there and try to compete when it's hurting."
Both teams have Thursday off before playing on Friday night. The Marlins haven't announced a starter for Friday's game against the Detroit Tigers. The Rays travel to face the Houston Astros, with Shane McClanahan getting the series opening start.
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