Dane Myers narrowly missed making one of the most spectacular catches we’ve seen at Fenway Park this season, but instead earned a spot on the Baseball Bloopers lowlight films for the following ten years.
Although the Red Sox benefited from the Miami Marlins outfielder’s misfortune, Myers ultimately made a significant comeback.
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In the top of the ninth inning, Myers tied the score with a single drive off Greg Weissert after bobbling Wilyer Abreu’s fly ball over the right field fence for a two-run home run in the fourth inning. After thereafter, Jakob Marsee hit a two-run home run off Steven Matz, and the Marlins defeated the Red Sox 5-3, preventing the home team from sweeping the series.
The repercussions of right-hander Isaiah Campbell’s failure to complete Saturday’s victory were also shown by the ninth-inning breakdown. Boston might have lost the game and the sweep on Sunday since the All-Star closer was not available due to Aroldis Chapman coming on to complete the save on Saturday.
Additionally, it spoiled what had been an exceptionally well-pitched game.
In one of the best pitchers’ duels of the season, Marlins starter Janson Junk and Garrett Crochet were excellent.
Crochet made one poor delivery in the top of the third, sending a four-seam fastball over the middle to Eric Wagaman, but both pitchers retired the first six batters they saw. Statcast measured the Marlins first baseman’s solo home run at 453 feet after he lined it up to the Heart sign on the far light tower above the Green Monster.
Apart from that, Crochet was virtually invincible.
Crochet stopped the Marlins to one run over seven innings on three hits, one walk, and one hit batsman while striking out eight, following a rare poor performance in his most recent appearance in Houston. He is currently four strikeouts away from reaching 200 for the season, and he reduced his ERA to 2.43 for the season.
Junk tried his hardest to keep up.
In five of his seven innings pitched, the Marlins right-hander retired the Red Sox on 13 or fewer pitches, demonstrating his exceptional efficiency. In the bottom of the third inning, he left a Red Sox batter stranded at third base, and even though Jarren Duran walked him with one out in the fourth, he probably should have survived.
Sadly for him, Myers followed the ball down and made a spectacular leaping catch, but he smashed into the bullpen wall on the way down and saw the ball pop out of his glove and over the fence for a home run that scored two runs.
As the game progressed, Miami had multiple chances to tie it up, leaving runners in scoring position in each of Crochet’s final three innings. Crochet battled his way out of a particularly tough situation in the seventh when Javier Sanoja got a leadoff walk and reached third on a wild pitch with one out. Crochet also left a runner at second in the fifth and men at the corners in the sixth.
After conferring and concluding that Crochet did not balk during the tying run with two outs, it appeared for a brief moment that he could have, but the Red Sox star ended his performance with a groundout.
Against Crochet, who threw his hardest pitch—a heater cranked at 100.2 mph that Wagaman lightly grounded to second base—the Marlins went 0 for 6 overall with runners in scoring position.
With a sacrifice fly by Abraham Toro in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Red Sox increased their advantage to 3-1. Junk finished with seven innings pitched, six hits, a walk, and six strikeouts, allowing three runs. However, Abreu started to grimace as he ran in from third to score, and the next inning he was taken out of the game.
Later, the team disclosed that Abreu was experiencing tightness in his right calf.
When the Marlins put men on the corners against Garrett Whitlock in the eighth and scored on a two-out RBI single by Liam Hicks, the insurance run proved to be critical. Weissert gave up a leadoff home run to Myers, a single to Wagaman, and then Matz came on and gave up the game-winning homer to Marsee in the ninth, but Whitlock managed to get out of the situation unscathed.
Carlos Narvaez flew out to end the game after the Red Sox got two on in the bottom of the ninth.
