Pinch-hitter Donnie Murphy hit a walk-off single in the ninth inning, lifting the Florida Marlins to a wild 7-6 victory over the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves on Friday.
Gaby Sanchez and Dan Uggla homered for Florida, which has won six of its last seven. The club rallied against Billy Wagner, who has been one of the best closers in baseball this season.
Trailing 6-5, the Marlins loaded the bases in the ninth against Wagner (5-1) and tied it on a passed ball, before Murphy brought home Sanchez with the winning run.
Wagner’s meltdown came just minutes after Florida reliever Jose Veras (2-0) hit Matt Diaz with the bases loaded to force in the go-ahead run in the top half of the frame.
The game was back-and-forth for the last three innings. Brian McCann’s three-run shot off Taylor Tankersley in the seventh tied the game at 4-4. Florida then took a 5-4 lead on Sanchez’s 11th homer of the season in the bottom half of the frame.
Atlanta | Florida | |
Derek Lowe | Player | Alex Sanabia |
No Decision | W/L | No Decision |
5.2 | IP | 4.1 |
6 | Strikeouts | 3 |
5 | Hits | 7 |
6.35 | ERA | 2.08 |
Atlanta | Florida | |
Martin Prado | Player | Gaby Sanchez |
3 | Hits | 2 |
1 | RBI | 1 |
1 | HR | 1 |
8 | TB | 5 |
.600 | Avg | .400 |