Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Miami 4, Cincinnati 3
When: 7:10 PM ET, Saturday, August 9, 2014
Where: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, Ohio
Temperature: 78°
Umpires: Home - Paul Nauert, 1B - Larry Vanover, 2B - Dan Iassogna, 3B - Victor Carapazza
Attendance: 34768

Marlins 4, Reds 3: Brad Penny won in his first major-league outing of the season and Christian Yelich drove in two runs as Miami defeated host Cincinnati for the second straight night.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia scored twice and Adeiny Hechavarria reached base three times on two hits and a walk as the Marlins pulled within 4 1/2 games of St. Louis and San Francisco for the National League’s second wild-card spot. The Reds fell three games back in the wild-card chase and six behind first-place Milwaukee in the NL Central.

The 36-year-old Penny (1-0) allowed two runs - one earned - and four hits in five innings while pitching in the majors for the first time since 2012. A.J. Ramos tossed two hitless innings, Bryan Morris allowed a run in the eighth and Steve Cishek worked the ninth for his 29th save.

Yelich hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly off Sam LeCure (1-4) in the sixth and Donovan Solano added a run-scoring double later in the inning as the Marlins took a 4-2 lead. The Reds moved within one on an RBI fielder’s choice by Skip Schumaker in the eighth and Chris Heisey singled to start the ninth but was picked off by Cishek, who retired the ensuing two batters.

Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton hit a first-inning sacrifice fly before Jay Bruce belted a tying homer to right in the bottom of the frame. After the Marlins moved ahead in the second on Yelich’s RBI groundout, the Reds tied it in the third on Todd Frazier’s run-scoring single, but Bruce was out trying to score from second as Miami center fielder Marcell Ozuna made a strong throw home.

GAME NOTEBOOK:
Reds RHP Alfredo Simon allowed two runs on four hits and five walks over five innings as his winless streak reached five starts. … Miami optioned LHP Edgar Olmos to Triple-A New Orleans to open a roster spot for Penny. … Cincinnati C Brayan Pena (hamstring) was not in the starting lineup but singled in a pinch-hitting role in the eighth to extend his hitting streak to 13 games.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Miami   Cincinnati
Brad Penny Player Alfredo Simon
Win W/L No Decision
5.0 IP 5.0
3 Strikeouts 5
4 Hits 4
1.80 ERA 3.60
Hitting
Miami   Cincinnati
Adeiny Hechavarria Player Brayan Pena
2 Hits 1
0 RBI 0
0 HR 0
2 TB 1
.667 Avg 1.000
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Miami 8 0 11 .267 15 10 4 8 0 1
Cincinnati 7 1 11 .212 14 8 3 5 2 0