Orioles use 9th-inning walk to beat depleted Marlins 8-7

BALTIMORE (AP) — Ryan McKenna drew a bases-loaded walk from Steven Okert to force in the winning run in the ninth inning, and the Baltimore Orioles got home runs from Trey Mancini and Pedro Severino in an 8-7 comeback victory over the depleted Miami Marlins on Wednesday night.

Baltimore erased an early 5-0 deficit and battled back from a 7-5 hole in the eighth to end Miami's modest three-game winning streak.

Jesús Aguilar homered, had three RBIs and scored three runs for the last-place Marlins, who before the game beat Friday’s trade deadline with a pair of deals appropriate for a team planning for the future. Late in the afternoon, general manager Kim Ng sent outfielder Starling Marte to Oakland for left-hander Jesús Luzardo, a 23-year-old with 31 games of major league experience.

Then, in a swap announced a few minutes before the first pitch, the Marlins shipped closer Yimi Garcia to the Houston Astros for Triple-A outfielder Bryan De La Cruz and right-hander Austin Pruitt.

“These are some of the first steps we’ve got to take (in rebuilding),” Ng said. “It was a good day.”

But not a good night. After Miami starter Jordan Holloway failed to get out of the third inning, six relievers followed. With Garcia unavailable, Okert (0-1) stumbled in the ninth.

Cedric Mullins drew a leadoff walk, advanced on a wild pitch and took third on a sacrifice bunt. Two intentional walks followed to load the bases for McKenna, who looked at a low pitch on a 3-2 count.

Those kind of things are bound to happen to a team without its starting center fielder, no closer and with all of its focus on building for the future.

“Trading a player of Starling’s caliber is always difficult but you have to think of the future of the Marlins,” Ng said. “It was difficult on a lot different fronts but I...

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