Derek Hill slugged his first career grand slam and rookie Valente Bellozo won his first major league game as the Miami Marlins beat the visiting Cincinnati Reds 6-4 on Wednesday night.
Miami’s Jake Burger homered twice to complement Hill’s blast.
The Reds, who lead this four-game series 2-1, were powered by TJ Friedl, who hit the game’s second grand slam.
Bellozo (1-1) allowed five hits and two walks across 5 ? scoreless innings. A 24-year-old who is far from a top prospect, Bellozo also cooled off Cincinnati superstar Elly De La Cruz, who struck out twice and grounded out once in three at-bats against the Mexico native.
Stopping De La Cruz was crucial for Miami. In the first two games of this series, the star shortstop went 8-for-10 with five RBIs, four doubles and two homers. On Wednesday, De La Cruz went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and one walk.
Calvin Faucher pitched a shaky but scoreless ninth for his second save of the season.
Andrew Abbott (9-9) took the loss after allowing six hits, three walks and six runs in five innings. He struck out seven.
Cincinnati trailed 6-0 in the seventh before Friedl hit his grand slam on an elevated 0-2 fastball from reliever Andrew Nardi.
The Reds loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth against Faucher, who then induced a game-ending groundout by Jeimer Candelario.
Miami exploded for five runs in the first inning.
Burger hit a one-out solo shot before Jonah Bride singled and Jesus Sanchez and Otto Lopez both walked. Hill then hit his 412-foot grand slam to right-center.
Cincinnati tried to cut into its 5-0 deficit in the second inning by loading the bases with two outs. After falling behind in the count to Jonathan India, Bellozo recovered to freeze him on a 2-2 fastball to end the threat.
Burger made it 6-0 in the fifth with the longest homer of the night – a 422-foot bomb to left.
–Field Level Media