– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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NEW YORK — On the same plot of land in which his father spent the most memorable moments of his Major League career, Miami Marlins pitcher Ryan Weathers felt right at home on the mound of Yankee Stadium, allowing his team to get a rare victory during the beginning part of the season.
Weathers tossed five scoreless innings, while third baseman Jake Burger blasted a three-run home run in the third inning for all the runs Miami would need in a 4-2 victory over the New York Yankees inside Yankee Stadium on Wednesday. The win was just the second for the Marlins this season, who lost their first nine games of the campaign before finally getting on the win column last Sunday in St. Louis.
“We need every victory. We put ourselves in a little bit of a hole,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “You can’t lose the whole season or win a World Series in April or May, but you can not get into the playoffs if you continue on this losing skid here.”
Weathers proved to be the stopper. The lefty, whose dad was an instrumental bullpen piece of the New York Yankees championship team of 1996, allowed three hits and three walks, and was able to work out of jams in the third and fourth innings — the Yankees had runners on first and second both times — to keep New York at bay. Weathers’ last win was last April 11 against the New York Mets while playing for San Diego.
“I’ve always heard stories of him in ’96,” Ryan said about his dad. “It’s just really cool to kind of be a second generation and come here and win a ball game.”
Miami went for four runs in the third inning off Yankees starter Marcus Stroman, as Nick Gordon walked to start the inning before Nick Fortes singled to center. Last year’s National League batting champion, Luis Arraez, singled past third baseman Jon Berti and into left to score Gordon to open the scoring. After Josh Bell struck out looking, Burger, celebrating his 28th birthday, launched a 444-foot shot deep into the bullpen in left-center field to give Miami a crooked inning.
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