By CHRISTOPHER STOCK
Associated Press
MIAMI (AP) — After striking out Diamondbacks slugger Paul Goldschmidt, Mike Dunn was unable to get past A.J. Pollock.
Pollock had a pinch-hit, tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth inning to lift the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 4-2 win over the struggling Miami Marlins on Tuesday night.
“I went with what I’ve done a lot in the past — challenge guys inside and just didn’t quite get in enough,” Dunn said. “I felt like I made a pretty good pitch. It was just a little bit up and he cleared it.”
Dunn (0-3) issued the pivotal homer to Pollock, who pinch-hit for left-handed hitter David Peralta.
“We were watching the pen real carefully and there was no righty up at the time,” said Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale. “That was the only way I was going to use him for Peralta. If there had been a righty up I probably wouldn’t have done it.”
Pollock hit the first pitch he saw from the left-hander Dunn just over the left-field wall down the line.
“I actually didn’t (think it was going to go out), I was hoping,” Pollock said. “I knew it was going to be a double, I knew I hit it well. … It was clearly going to be fair, it was just a matter of home run or double. Home runs are much nicer than doubles.”
Miami lost its fifth straight and second in two days under new manager Dan Jennings.
“I went with the gut feeling and the gut feeling did not work,” Jennings said of his move to go with Dunn.
Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton hit his 12th home run of the season and fourth in the last five games.
Daniel Hudson (1-1) pitched two innings to earn the victory and Enrique Burgos got his second save one day after picking up his first.
Burgos allowed two base runners in the ninth before striking out Mike Morse to end the game.
“When you’re throwing 98 with a really snap dragon-type slider it’s very difficult to dig in there as a hitter because you don’t know where the ball is going to go,” Hale said. “So every now and again he does miss the zone and walks a guy. That’s the way it goes and we have to live with it. We live with the good, the strikeouts, and we have to live with the bad, sometimes the walks and we know over time that will improve.”
A throwing error by Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon resulted in the game’s first run and Nick Ahmed laid down a successful squeeze bunt to give the Diamondbacks a 2-0 advantage in the fourth.
Gordon led off the sixth with an infield hit and scored on Stanton’s two-run homer to left field, tying the score at 2-2.
“It put us right there with the opportunity to finish off right,” Stanton said. “It just didn’t happen.”
Jeremy Hellickson pitched six innings and allowed two runs for the Diamondbacks.
Marlins starter Tom Koehler allowed two unearned runs and five hits in 6 2-3 innings.
“It’s tough because we still lost,” Koehler said. “I’m not a guy that feels good about outings when we end up losing.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Diamondbacks: 3B Jake Lamb (left foot) could return to the team by June 1, according to Hale. “I think we’re looking at him being back in the big leagues by the first of next month,” Hale said. “He’s close.” … RHP David Hernandez (elbow) could be reinstated from the disabled list when the team returns home from their road trip on Friday.
Marlins: RHP Jarred Cosart (vertigo) was placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to May 14, and RHP Carter Capps was recalled from Triple-A New Orleans. “I started taking the medicine this morning,” Cosart said. “I’ll have two days of no activity, then hopefully I’ll feel better and start throwing again and then figure out from there what goes on.” Cosart is 1-3 with a 4.08 ERA in seven starts.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks: RHP Chase Anderson (0-1, 2.81 ERA) has allowed two earned runs over his last three starts, spanning 18 1/3 innings.
Marlins: RHP David Phelps (2-0, 2.68) looks to continue his success as a starter as he has a 2-0 record with a 1.75 ERA in six starts this season.
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