BOSTON — In their first two games at Fenway Park, the Miami Marlins scored 16 runs on 26 hits to clinch their series against the Boston Red Sox.
In the series finale on Thursday, the Marlins went from potentially being on the wrong end of a no-hitter to sweeping the series.
Final score: Marlins 2, Red Sox 0.
With the win, the Marlins have swept the Red Sox in a three-game series for the first time in franchise history. The only other time they swept the Red Sox came in a two-game set in 2015. Miami won the first two games of the series 10-1 on Tuesday and 6-2 on Wednesday.
The Marlins improve to 48-34 on the season. Boston falls to 40-42.
Here are three takeaways from the game.
Miami Marlins third baseman Jean Segura (9) runs towards third base during the eighth inning of a game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
Miami Marlins third baseman Jean Segura (9) runs towards third base during the eighth inning of a game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Brian Fluharty Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports
Jean Segura to the rescue
The Marlins were held without a hit for the first seven innings on Thursday, failing to figure out Brayan Bello.
And then third baseman Jean Segura, who wasn’t originally in the starting lineup until both Garrett Cooper (illness) and Yuli Gurriel (nose) were scratched pregame, got things going.
He broke up Bello’s no-hit bid with an infield single that shortstop Kike Hernandez dove to stop but couldn’t throw to first base in time.
It was the first of four consecutive hits by the Marlins, who took the lead and had a chance to tack on more runs but failed to capitalize.
Joey Wendle’s single through the right side moved Segura to third and chased Bello, who received a standing ovation from the Fenway Park crowd. Jon Berti then opened scoring with a single to center that scored Segura. A Jesus Sanchez broken-bat single to left loaded the bases.
Nick Fortes then hit into a double play, with Wendle out at home and Fortes out at first, before Luis Arraez was intentionally walks and Jorge Soler struck out to strand the bases loaded.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. added a solo home run in the ninth to give Miami an insurance run.
Thursday was the second time this season Segura broke up an opponent’s no-hit bid late in a game. On April 24 against the Atlanta Braves, Spencer Strider also carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning before Segura hit a bloop single.
Miami Marlins starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo (44) pitches against the Boston Red Sox during the fifth inning at Fenway Park.
Miami Marlins starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo (44) pitches against the Boston Red Sox during the fifth inning at Fenway Park. Brian Fluharty Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports
Jesus Luzardo keeps Marlins in it
While it took until the eighth inning for the Marlins to scratch across a run, left-handed pitcher Jesus Luzardo and the Miami bullpen kept Boston off the scoreboard all game.
Luzardo threw 6 1/3 shutout innings against the Red Sox, allowing just three hits and one walk while striking out nine.
After giving up a leadoff single to Alex Verdugo and a two-out walk to Rafael Devers in the first inning, Luzardo retired 17 consecutive batters before giving up back-to-back one-out single to Devers and Adam Duvall in the seventh to end his outing.
Andrew Nardi relieved Luzardo and stranded both runners by striking out Masataka Yoshida and getting Christian Arroyo to groundout.
Tanner Scott then threw a scoreless eighth before A.J. Puk logged his team-leading 13th save with a scoreless ninth.
Arguably the biggest series of the season (so far) is next
The Marlins close out their final road trip before the All-Star Break with three games against the Atlanta Braves (53-27) this weekend at Truist Park.
It’s a series between the top two teams in the National League East and two of the top three teams in the National League standings overall (the Arizona Diamondbacks are second).
The Braves have a six/seven-game lead on the Marlins in the division. Miami holds the National League’s top wild card spot.
The Marlins have been looking for answers to beat the Braves for quite some time now. Miami is 1-6 against Atlanta so far this season and has not had a winning record in a season series against the Braves since 2014. Atlanta has won the NL East each of the past five seasons.
