Bryan De La Cruz and Jake Burger hit home runs off Freddy Peralta in the first inning, giving the Miami Marlins an early lead in their 6-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night.
Josh Bell also homered in the ninth inning against Janson Junk for his 1,000th career hit. Bell received a standing ovation when he went back to the locker room after the game.
“Definitely a special moment for me,” Bell said. “Thinking back to the good and the bad of my career so far, it definitely makes up for all the bad times getting to 1,000 there.”
Trevor Rogers (2-9) pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed two runs, becoming the first Marlins starting pitcher to earn a win since June 11, when Jesús Luzardo gave up two runs over 5 2/3 innings in a 4-2 victory over the New York Mets.
“I had no idea until one of the coaches told me,” Rogers said. He struck out only one batter but didn’t walk any, getting his first win since May 15. “We were getting up there, so I’m glad that’s back to zero.”
Rhys Hoskins homered for Milwaukee.
The Marlins built a 5-0 lead in the first two innings and kept the lead despite leaving 10 runners on base.
Even though the Marlins entered Friday with the worst record in the NL, they are 5-3 since the All-Star break, having played against the Mets, the AL East-leading Baltimore Orioles, and the NL Central-leading Brewers.
“We’re just trying to embrace the role of a spoiler,” Bell said.
After Jazz Chisholm walked to start the game, De La Cruz hit a one-out home run into the left-field stands for his team-leading 18th homer. Two batters later, Burger also hit a home run into the left-field seats.
Burger and Bell each hit their 13th home runs of the season, tying Chisholm for second on the team.
The Marlins took advantage of Milwaukee’s mistakes to score two unearned runs in a second-inning rally that started with two outs and nobody on.
