Major League Baseball
Miami 4, Cincinnati 1
When: 7:10 PM ET, Thursday, July 27, 2017
Where: Marlins Park, Miami, Florida
Temperature: Indoors
Umpires: Home - Alan Porter, 1B - Joe West, 2B - Hunter Wendelstedt, 3B - Andy Fletcher
Attendance: 19986

MIAMI -- After setting a franchise record by scoring 22 runs on Wednesday against the Texas Rangers, the Miami Marlins followed up by making a textbook play on defense.

Yes, Miami's obvious heroes Thursday in a 4-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Marlins Park were Derek Dietrich, who hit a solo homer and drove in three runs, and rookie left-hander Chris O'Grady, who pitched seven scoreless innings.

But it was a fielding play in the fifth inning that really stood out as Miami was protecting a 1-0 lead.

With two outs, Joey Votto was hit by a pitch. However Votto then tried to score from first on a double down the left field line by Adam Duvall, but he was thrown out at the plate.

Left fielder Marcell Ozuna got the relay throw to shortstop Miguel Rojas, who made a stellar one-hop throw to catcher J.T. Realmuto.

"That's how you draw it up," said Dietrich, who had a good view from his position at third base.

"(Marlins infield coach) Perry Hill has a defensive video that he makes every year, and that play is probably going to go on it because ... from start to finish ... Ozuna made a great relay, and (Rojas') great arm strength with a long hop right to J.T. ... It was flawless."

O'Grady called the play "amazing," adding that it was a game-changer.

"It could've been a tie game, and I'm still pitching, and then you never know what happens," O'Grady said.

"(On the play), I went to back up home plate, and I was watching Votto round third. And the whole time I was thinking, 'We've got a shot at this with a good throw.' And two good throws did it, and I was standing right there to see the whole thing. It was exciting."

That play was indeed key as the Marlins (47-53) won for the fifth time in seven games. The Reds (41-61) have lost four games in a row and 12 of their past 14. Cincinnati also has lost six consecutive games at Marlins Park.

Dietrich has eight RBIs in the past two games after driving in a career-high five on Wednesday.

O'Grady (2-1) allowed five hits, including four singles, and two walks, lowering his ERA from 5.40 to 3.68. He struck out five while earning his second major league win and his first at home.

Reds right-hander Robert Stephenson (0-4) lost to the Marlins for the second time in less than a week. He walked a career-high seven batters on Thursday and lasted just 4 1/3 innings.

"I knew what was going on," said Stephenson, who allowed four hits and three runs. "I just wasn't able to fix it."

Catcher Tucker Barnhart helped keep the Reds in the game by throwing out Dee Gordon trying to steal second base in the first and sixth innings. Barnhart wasn't able to get Stephenson to throw enough strikes, though.

"He didn't pitch as well as he would've liked, but he kept us in the game," Barnhart said. "You have to find a silver lining in a lot of things."

Things started to slip away from the Reds in the fourth inning, when Dietrich broke a scoreless tie, pulling a 1-0 fastball, clocked at 93 mph, for a solo homer to right-center. It was his fifth home run of the season.

Miami extended its lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth, getting Dietrich's RBI walk and a sacrifice fly by Tyler Moore. Miami's rally featured three walks and an infield hit.

The Marlins increased their lead to 4-0 in the seventh when Dietrich's pop fly fell for an RBI single in short left field.

Cincinnati got to Miami's bullpen in the eighth as Scooter Gennett broke up the shutout bid with an RBI single off Junichi Tazawa.

The Reds had an opportunity for more in the eighth, but Marlins closer A.J. Ramos came in and got Barnhart to ground out with the bases loaded, ending the threat.

Ramos also pitched a scoreless ninth, earning his 20th save of the season.

"We've been talking since spring training that we can use A.J. like that," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said of Ramos' four-out save. "With the game on the line, I want A.J. out there."

NOTES: Reds 2017 All-Star SS Zack Cozart (right quad) missed his second game in a row. He leads all NL shortstops in batting average, on-base and slugging percentage. ... Reds INF Dilson Herrera will have season-ending right shoulder surgery on Tuesday. ... Miami has won three straight road series for the first time since May 2012. ... Since Miami hit the road on July 20, the Marlins put three players on the disabled list: 1B Justin Bour (oblique), SS JT Riddle (biceps) and RHP Kyle Barraclough (shoulder). They also demoted RHP Tom Koehler and recalled C Tomas Telis, INF Mike Aviles, LHP Hunter Cervenka and RHP Drew Steckenrider.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Cincinnati   Miami
Robert Stephenson Player Chris O'Grady
Loss W/L Win
4.1 IP 7.0
2 Strikeouts 5
4 Hits 5
6.23 ERA 0.00
Hitting
Cincinnati   Miami
Eugenio Suarez Player Derek Dietrich
3 Hits 2
0 RBI 3
0 HR 1
3 TB 5
.600 Avg .667
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Cincinnati 10 0 11 .278 17 6 1 3 0 1
Miami 7 1 10 .259 21 8 4 9 2 0