Marlins win again, blank Orioles 1-0 in doubleheader opener

BALTIMORE (AP) — Brian Anderson hit a fourth-inning homer off Alex Cobb and the Miami Marlins won their second straight since returning from a coronavirus-prompted layoff, beating the Baltimore Orioles 1-0 Wednesday in the opener of a doubleheader.

Doubleheaders this season are seven-inning games, one of many rules designed to get the 30 teams and their pitchers through a dense 60-game schedule. As a nod to the first game of its kind at Camden Yards, the public address system blared “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” after the top of the fourth instead of its usual slot during the seventh-inning stretch.

Miami improved to 4-1 with its second successive shutout win over the Orioles. After yielding three hits in a 4-0 victory on Tuesday night, the Marlins permitted only three hits in this one.

And so, a team that was inactive for eight days after 18 players tested positive for COVID-19 finds itself atop the NL East by percentage points in this absolutely unpredictable baseball season. The Marlins had to scramble to fill out the roster after filling their injured list, and the new-look club still hasn't given up a run.

Elieser Hernandez allowed two hits over 4 1/3 innings and Brandon Kintzler worked the seventh for his second save.

Hernandez gave up a one-out double to Chance Sisco in the fifth and Pedro Severino followed with a single before Nick Vincent (1-0) got Hanser Alberto to hit into a double play, ending Baltmore's only threat.

Anderson produced the game's lone run with an opposite-field drive to right. It was one of the Marlins' two hits, both off Cobb (1-1).

Tuesday night's game was originally scheduled for July 29 and the first game of the doubleheader was a makeup for July 30. The Marlins were to serve as the “home” team in the nightcap and on...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Marlins-win-again-blank-Orioles-1-0-in-15462299.php