Miami and Toronto squared off on Tuesday night, as Starling Marte made his Marlins’ debut and Jonathan Villar made his Blue Jays’ debut (against the Marlins). On Monday, the Marlins acquired Marte from the Diamondbacks, and he was in the lineup for Miami on Tuesday.

The new Marte-led Marlins bested the Blue Jays 3-2 after late-inning heroics by Marte himself. This game was extremely important for the Marlins (16-15). The Phillies (16-15) reached closer and closer to surpassing the Marlins for second place in the division.

The pitching looked solid on the Marlins end, as the bullpen pitched 7 innings of 1-run baseball after Elieser Hernandez left the game after just 2 innings pitched allowing 1 run on 2 hits. Josh A. Smith continues to pitch well going 4 strong innings to overcome the short start of Hernandez. Richard Bleier and James Hoyt combined to pitch 2 shutout innings. Brandon Kintzler picked up his 8th save in as many attempts.

Starling Marte Made Difference for the Marlins

Starling Marte, STARLING MARTE! In his first game with the Marlins, the veteran “star” showed up. He scored 2 of the Marlins 3 runs, one of which off of a Garrett Cooper RBI double and the other on a go-ahead solo bomb in the top of the 8th inning. The ball soared off his bat, leading to a no-doubter and an eventual Marlins’ win.

“I knew it was a home run when I hit it,” Marte said after the game. “The energy I felt with the bat, I knew it was gone.”

Jon Berti hit a solo shot earlier in the game as well, helping to propel the Marlins’ bats.

The Marlins (16-15) look to further this 2-game win streak tomorrow against Toronto (18-16), and sweep the two-game set. Sixto Sanchez (1-0, 2.25 ERA) takes the mound for the Marlins against Hyun Jin Ryu (2-1, 2.92 ERA) of the Blue Jays.