Marlins' Alfaro, Cooper HRs crushed Giants in home turf

Jorge Alfaro and Garrett Cooper crushed rare three-run homers, leading the host Miami Marlins to an 11-3 win over the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night. Before Tuesday, the last time the Marlins had even one three-run homer was on Sept. 26, 2018. But the Marlins were on the attack on Tuesday, stroking 14 hits to win a battle between the two teams with the worst records in the National League.

Miami rookie Harold Ramirez, 24, led the hit parade, going 3-for-4. Ramirez, who made his major league debut on May 11, is batting .413. In all, five Marlins totalled at least two hits, including Cooper and Alfaro, who each went 2-for-4. Cooper also scored three runs to go with his three RBIs.

Trevor Richards (2-5) earned the win, allowing two hits, one walk and one run in seven innings. He struck out five. Jeff Samardzija (2-4) took the loss, allowing eight hits and five runs in four-plus innings while walking one and striking out four.

Giants reliever Nick Vincent left the game in the sixth due to an unspecified injury. San Francisco took a 1-0 lead on the first pitch of the game, a 91-mph fastball that Joe Panik drilled to right-centre. The 360-foot shot was Panik's third homer of the year.

Miami tied the score in the second. Starlin Castro hit an opposite-field single, went to second on a Ramirez hit and scored on a single to right field by Miguel Rojas. Right fielder Kevin Pillar made a forceful throw, but it was offline and allowed Castro to run around the tag attempt. The Marlins took a 3-1 lead in the third. After singles by Cooper and Neil Walker, Castro slugged a two-run double to left-centre.

Miami broke the game open with four runs in the fifth, getting an RBI single from Ramirez and Alfaro's homer, which travelled 438 feet to right-centre with an exit velocity of 112 mph. Miami stretched its lead to 10-1 in the sixth. Following walks to Richards and Curtis Granderson, Cooper clubbed an 0-2 knuckle-curve to left-centre.

In the eighth, Rosell Herrera hit his first homer since July 29 of last year to give Miami an 11-1 lead. The Giants closed out the scoring in the ninth, getting an RBI single from Brandon Crawford and Pillar's sacrifice fly.