Jesus Sanchez smacked a three-run homer and doubled twice to lead the host Miami Marlins to an 8-2 victory over the Texas Rangers on Friday night in the opener of a three-game set.
Nick Gordon hit a two-run homer as part of a three-RBI night for the Marlins, who have won 10 of 15 games following a horrendous 11-32 start. Jake Burger had three hits and two runs and Otto Lopez also had three hits.
The three-hit outing was the first of the season for Sanchez.
Josh Smith homered for Texas, which had a three-game winning streak halted. The defending World Series champion Rangers have dropped 13 of their past 18 games.
Corey Seager doubled in the ninth to reach base in his 23rd consecutive game. But the Rangers star failed to homer after going deep eight times over the previous eight games.
Declan Cronin (1-2) retired all four batters he faced in relief for the Marlins.
Sanchez led off the second inning with a double to center. One out later, Gordon ripped a two-run shot over the center field fence off Jose Urena (1-5) for his sixth blast of the season.
Miami added two runs in the third despite having one hit in the inning. The runs crossed on Josh Bell’s sacrifice fly and Gordon’s fielder’s choice.
Texas got on the board with two outs in the fourth when Smith homered to center off Sixto Sanchez. It was Smith’s third of the season.
In the fifth, Leody Taveras doubled and Nathaniel Lowe singled to put runners on the corner and end Sixto Sanchez’s outing. Wyatt Langford’s infield out against Cronin scored Taveras before Cronin retired the next two batters to get out of the jam.
The Marlins added some insurance in the seventh as Burger and Bell singled with one out before Jesus Sanchez came to the plate. Jesus Tinoco of the Rangers got ahead 0-2 but Sanchez hammered the seven pitch of the at-bat 417 feet over the fence in center. It was his fourth homer of the campaign.
Burger reached on an infield single with the bases loaded in the eighth to push the Miami lead to six.
Urena allowed four runs (two earned) and four hits over 2 1/3 innings.
Sixto Sanchez gave up two runs and four hits over four-plus innings.
–Field Level Media
