Miami’s Relief Army Leads Charge Against Tampa Bay

MIAMI — The Miami Marlins celebrated 90’s Day at loanDepot park on Saturday by having manager Clayton McCullough play his bullpen like a deck of Pokémon cards.

With injuries impacting half of the starting rotation, McCullough played seven relievers during Saturday’s 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. Starting with Lake Bachar, who tossed three hitless innings with three strikeouts.

“Threw the baseball over the plate as much as I could,” said Bachar. “I just think in general, just get ahead, stay ahead.”

It’s easy for the Marlins to lean towards their bullpen in times of need. Their bullpen leads Major League Baseball in opponents’ batting average (.200), and is second only to the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in hits allowed (152). Although more impressively, the Marlins bullpen has pitched 39 more innings than the Dodgers.

“They’re frustrating to try to navigate through,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Nobody gets in a rhythm at all, because you’re not seeing the same pitcher.”

RHP Anthony Bender maintained the bullpen’s collective no-hitter through the fourth parts of the fifth inning before handing it off to John King to finish off the frame. He has a 0.24 WHIP through 12.2 innings over his last 10 appearances. King has not given up a run in 13 straight home games.

The Rays snapped the no-hitter in the sixth inning on a single by former Marlin Victor Mesa Jr. The Rays pulled within one run in the ninth inning and loaded the bases to chase off Marlins closer Pete Fairbanks, who previously made his bones in Tampa Bay.

Tyler Zuber, the least renowned member of the bullpen, came in to strike out Junior Caminero and secure his first career save as a big leaguer.

“My whole pro career, I’ve closed a lot, but this is like one of those things that I wanted the most,” Zuber said. “I’m still shaking right now. I’m shaking now more than I was in my debut, so that tells me that this means a lot.”

The Marlins send Sandy Alcantara on the mound Sunday in hopes of closing out the Citrus Series with a win.