The Miami Marlins continued their strong stretch Wednesday night, pounding out 13 hits in a 9-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins behind a balanced offensive attack and another impressive outing from young right-hander Max Meyer.
Miami got contributions throughout the lineup, led by Leo Jiménez, who collected three hits, while Xavier Edwards doubled, tripled and scored three runs as the Marlins improved with one of their most complete offensive performances of the season.
The Marlins wasted little time taking control. After capitalizing on defensive miscues to score two unearned runs in the opening inning, Miami extended the lead in the second when rookie outfielder Owen Caissie launched a two-run homer to right field, giving the Marlins a 4-1 advantage.
Minnesota briefly showed life thanks to Byron Buxton, who crushed first pitch solo home runs in both the first and third innings off Meyer. Buxton’s pair of blasts accounted for much of the Twins’ early offense, as Meyer otherwise kept Minnesota in check.
The Marlins broke the game open in the fourth inning with a four-run surge. Edwards ripped an RBI double into the gap before Liam Hicks delivered a two-run single to cap the rally. Hicks finished with three RBIs, pushing his season total to an MLB leading 38.
Meyer continued his breakout campaign by improving to 3-0 on the season. The hard-throwing righty allowed four runs over 5 2/3 innings while striking out nine. Despite Buxton’s two long balls, Meyer consistently overpowered Twins hitters with his fastball-slider combination and generated swings and misses throughout the night.
Minnesota also received a home run from Kody Clemens, but the Twins could not overcome another rough outing from starter Simeon Woods Richardson. The struggling right-hander fell to 0-6 after surrendering eight runs six earned on seven hits and four walks in just over three innings. After opening the season with two strong starts, Woods Richardson has now posted a 9.79 ERA across his last seven outings.
One of the night’s most unusual moments came when veteran slugger Josh Bell stole a base for the first time since Sept. 27, 2018. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Bell’s 978-game gap between stolen bases was the longest by any player since at least 1900.
The Twins entered the game having won three of their previous four contests, but Miami’s relentless offense proved too much as the Marlins continued to build momentum heading deeper into May.
