Conine Goes Deep Twice as Marlins Demolish Angels 12-3
Griffin Conine hit two home runs — a 434-footer to right center in the fifth and a 368-footer to right in the eighth — finishing 2-for-4 with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored as Miami rolled Los Angeles 12-3. The story of the night was a first inning that got away from the Angels before most fans had settled into their seats.
Los Angeles actually drew first blood. Neto doubled to shortstop to score Schanuel in the top of the first, and the Angels carried a 1-0 lead into the bottom half. Then Grayson Rodriguez unraveled. A wild pitch scored Stowers to tie it, and when Lopez reached on an infield single, Schanuel's throwing error at first base allowed Edwards to score — a play that swung Miami's win probability from 74% to 84% in a single moment. Caissie followed with a single to left to score Lopez, and just like that the Marlins led 3-1 after one inning. Rodriguez finished with 4.0 innings pitched, 4 hits, 3 earned runs, 4 walks, and 8 strikeouts — a line that looks like a pitcher who had the stuff but not the command when it mattered most.
Jose Siri gave the Angels a brief pulse in the second, launching a 413-foot homer to center to cut the deficit to 3-2. That's as close as Los Angeles would get. Miami answered in the fourth when Sanoja singled to left to score Caissie, pushing the lead back to two. Then the fifth inning happened. Conine's two-run blast to right center made it 6-2, and the Marlins weren't done — Sanoja singled to center to score both Caissie and Mack, then Stowers singled to center to score Marsee and Sanoja. Four runs, two outs, and the Angels were staring at a 10-2 deficit. Javier Sanoja finished 2-for-4 with 3 RBI, and Kyle Stowers went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI — this appears to have been one of those nights where Miami's lineup simply refused to stop turning over.
Conine added his second home run in the eighth, a solo shot to right, to cap the scoring at 12. The Angels managed a consolation run in the ninth when Schanuel singled to left to score Meckler, making the final 12-3. Ryan Gusto went 4.0 innings for Miami, allowing 3 hits, 2 earned runs, 1 walk, and striking out 4 — serviceable enough to hand a comfortable lead to the bullpen. Blake Weiman tossed a clean inning of relief for Los Angeles with 2 strikeouts, and Michael Petersen matched him with a scoreless frame for Miami. The Angels' problems weren't in the bullpen, though. They were in the first inning, on a wild pitch and a throwing error, when a winnable game quietly became something else entirely.