With one of their aces on the mound and a 2-run lead entering the second half of the game, the San Francisco Giants thought they had their victory over the Miami Marlins assured this Monday, but at the height of the seventh chapter the Cuban Jorge Soler he was in charge of turning the board around with one of his violent swines.
He slugger The Antillean entered the pinch-hitting box after 2 outs in the lucky inning, which definitely had a loot in store for the South Florida franchise. With the tie at 90 feet from the plate, Soler didn’t wait long and sent Logan Webb’s second pitch flying, one of his cruelest executioners in MLB.
A slider of 83.2 miles, it stayed right in the middle of the area and the Cuban sent it flying through the entire center field of the loanDepot Park, in Miami. The ball shot out 106.1 miles and traveled 413 feet until it was lost beyond the fences to turn the scoreboard and leave a final score of 4-3.
“Obviously it was a big hit. I told him that he was going to be available as a pop-up on his day off, so he was ready. I’ll be honest, I don’t think he thought he was going to be against Webb; that was one of the reasons why he didn’t start. The home run is a testament that he still has confidence that he can do it, even though he really fights Webb,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said.
These words from the mentor were a clear reference to how bad Soler had done against Logan Webb in his career. In total, he had 10 scoreless at-bats and 7 strikeouts against the Giants pitcher, who now couldn’t dominate him.
“I prepared myself the right way with [el asistente del entrenador de bateo] Jason Hart and I felt like he was going to do it. And that’s not easy when you’re 0-for-10 with seven strikeouts against that pitcher. It was a great blow, a great moment and an exciting victory for us,” said Soler, who has been dealing with some back pain during the last days.
According to a report In MLB, this is the fourth win-no-loss for the Marlins when Soler has homered, largely because 4 of his 5 homers have come to tie or lead his team. That level of opportunity lived to its fullest this Monday with his second career home run coming off the bench, after he connected in the same role on Sept. 21, 2015 against the Brewers.
No Miami player had hit a pinch-hit homer since Sept. 22, 2021, when Nick Fortes hit a 3-run drive off the bench in the ninth inning against Washington.
In total, there are 60 Marlins players who have hit pinch-hit homers since the franchise was founded in 1993. The list is led by Preston Wilson with 3 home runs (all in 1999), Justin Bour (1 in 2015, 2016 and 2018 ) and Derek Dietrich (2 in 2016 and 1 in 2017).
“It was incredible. As soon as she hit him, she just stood there, and we knew. Soler is a big guy. Once he gets a solid hit, you know if he walks away. I’m happy he popped in on a big stage, and he made a connection. So we’re super happy,” said Marlins starter Jesús Luzardo.
The lefty allowed 3 runs in 4.1 innings and was able to take the loss, but the combined work of 4 relievers (4.2 scoreless innings with only one hit allowed) and Soler’s home run in the seventh saved him from defeat.
This was Soler’s fifth home run this season, in which he already has 11 extra-base hits, valid to be among the 12 players with the highest slugging (.623) in the Majors. According to an MLB report, 91.7% of Soler’s hits this year have been extra-base hits, the highest percentage in the Major Leagues among all players with at least 10 hits and 40 put-in events.
In addition, this homer is the 139th in the “El Crudo” career, a figure that places him in tenth position on the island’s historical list, just ahead of José Cardenal (138). The ranking of Cuban home run hitters in the Major Leagues is headed by Rafael Palmeiro (569), escorted on the podium by José Canseco (462) and Tany Pérez (379), the only ones who have surpassed the 300 barrier. The Top-10 is completed José Abreu (243), Tony Oliva (220), Kendrys Morales (213), Orestes Miñoso (195), Yasmani Grandal (178) and Yoenis Céspedes (165).
The Marlins play above .500 (9 wins and 8 losses) in the National League East, an extremely difficult division with Atlanta, the Mets and the Phillies as the strongest rivals.
