The Miami Marlins took full advantage of a costly defensive miscue and the early exit of Mariners starter Logan Gilbert to pull away for an 8–4 win over Seattle on Friday night at T-Mobile Park.
Gilbert was dominant early, retiring all nine batters he faced while throwing 20 of his 29 pitches for strikes. But after three perfect innings, the right-hander was forced to leave the game with tightness in his right forearm, an ominous sign for a Mariners rotation that has leaned heavily on him. At the time of his departure, Seattle led 1–0, thanks to Dylan Moore’s solo homer off Marlins starter Cal Quantrill in the second inning — Moore’s sixth of the season.
Disaster struck for the Mariners in the fifth. With two outs and a runner on first, emergency reliever Casey Lawrence induced a grounder from Matt Mervis that should have ended the inning. Instead, Moore, fresh off an AL Player of the Week award, couldn’t handle it, and the door swung wide open for Miami.
The Marlins piled on from there. Liam Hicks and Javier Sanoja followed with RBI singles, Xavier Edwards drove in two more with a base hit, and Jesús Sánchez capped the six-run frame with his first homer of the season, a two-run blast to right field that made it 6–1.
Seattle clawed back in the sixth when Jorge Polanco launched a three-run homer — his fifth of the year — off Quantrill, trimming the deficit to 6–4. Quantrill (2–2) finished his night allowing four runs on five hits over 5 2/3 innings.
But Miami didn’t flinch. In the eighth, rookie catcher Agustín Ramírez provided the knockout punch, belting his first major league home run — a two-run shot — to give the Marlins breathing room at 8–4.
Miami’s bullpen locked it down from there. Jesús Tinoco got four key outs, and Calvin Faucher and Ronny Henriquez each threw a scoreless inning to close it out.
Lawrence (1–1), pressed into unexpected long relief duty, was tagged for eight runs — though only two were earned — on 10 hits over five innings for Seattle.
Moore’s two-out error in the fifth extended the inning and triggered a six-run Marlins rally that turned the game on its head.
Gilbert needed just 29 pitches to complete three perfect innings, throwing 20 strikes. Last season, he threw eight scoreless innings against Miami in one of his two road wins over the Marlins.
The series continues Saturday with Miami sending RHP Connor Gillispie (0–2, 6.75 ERA) to the mound against Seattle ace RHP Luis Castillo (2–2, 4.44 ERA).
