MIAMI — Jorge Soler and Miguel Rojas homered and the Miami Marlins won their sixth straight game, beating the Seattle Mariners 8-6 Friday night.
Soler’s homer in the first inning bounced off a column behind the left-center field pavilion and was measured at 468 feet, the third-longest in the major leagues this season.
“When I made contact, it felt as if I didn’t hit anything,” Soler said in Spanish. “Then, when I saw it in the air, I said, ‘Wow that one is gone.’”
Jesús Sánchez’s two-run single with the bases loaded against Mariners starter Matt Brash capped a four-run second inning. Jesús Aguilar and Jacob Stallings also had RBI singles that stretched the Marlins’ lead to 6-3.
Miami increased its lead on Rojas’ two-run homer in the third. A day after getting hit in the jaw with a pitch against Washington starter Patrick Corbin, Rojas powered a fastball from Mariners’ reliever Matthew Festa over the wall in left for his first homer of the season.
Marlins starter Elieser Hernández settled down after a difficult second and limited Seattle to three runs over five innings. Hernández (2-1) scattered five hits, struck out five and walked one.
Seattle rallied with three runs in the ninth on Jarred Kelenic’s one-out RBI double against reliever Shawn Armstrong. Anthony Bender relieved Armstrong and allowed Luis Torrens’ sacrifice fly and Adam Frazier’s run-scoring single before retiring Ty France on a force out for his fifth save.
“I give our guys credit for not quitting, we got the tying run to the plate,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “It’s good to see their bullpen a little bit and hopefully it helps us out the rest of the series.”
Brash (1-2) was lifted after two innings. The rookie right-hander allowed six runs, seven hits, struck out three and walked two in his fourth major league start.
“I will be back and be better,” Brash said. “It is a learning experience every day here. I shook it off, but I let that second inning spiral out of control and I cannot let that happen. I’ll work on some stuff in the bullpen this week and get right back at it.”
The Mariners quickly erased a two-run deficit on Torrens’ bases clearing double for a 3-2 advantage in the second.
Mitch Haniger singled to lead off the second in his return from the injured list, but was replaced by pinch runner Abraham Torro because of a right ankle sprain. Servais said Haniger will undergo an MRI Saturday. Haniger missed 11 games after entering COVID protocols and was reactivated Friday.
