Major League Baseball
Miami 4, Colorado 3
When: 7:10 PM ET, Saturday, August 12, 2017
Where: Marlins Park, Miami, Florida
Temperature: Indoors
Umpires: Home - Andy Fletcher, 1B - Pat Hoberg, 2B - Tony Randazzo, 3B - Gerry Davis
Attendance: 20399

MIAMI -- Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado, who leads the majors in RBIs, was ejected.

Miami Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton, who leads the majors in homers, went deep again.

That contrast was indicative of which team had the better fortune on Saturday night as Stanton drilled a tiebreaking, three-run shot to left to lead Miami to a 4-3 win over Colorado at Marlins Park.

Arenado, who went 0-for-4, was thrown out of the game in the seventh inning after he argued a strike-three check-swing call.

First-base umpire Pat Hoberg was the one who ejected Arenado.

"(Hoberg) told me he was instructed to do that when a guy throws his bat and looks at him," said Rockies bench coach Mike Redmond, who was filling in for manager Bud Black, who was ill. "I explained to (Hoberg) in the calmest voice I have that I felt that was wrong, and he didn't have to do that. But the damage was already done."

Black is expected to return on Sunday, when Miami (55-60) goes for the series sweep against Colorado (65-51), which has lost four of its past five games. Redmond, a former Marlins manager, will return to his role as bench coach.

Stanton, who once played for Redmond, has 41 homers, one short of the franchise single-season record set by Gary Sheffield in 1996. Stanton has 20 homers in the past 32 games.

The homer by Stanton snapped a 1-1, fourth-inning tie. Overall, Stanton went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored, falling just a triple short of a cycle.

"Fuego," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said, flexing his Spanish-language muscles to describe how hot Stanton is right now. "It seems like every day you can count on him hitting one."

Stanton, who struck out in his final at-bat, was asked if he thought about the cycle.

"After the homer, yeah," Stanton said. "Then I messed it up -- swung at everything."

Center fielder Charlie Blackmon led Colorado with four hits and two steals. He led off an inning five times and went 4-for-5, with Marlins first baseman Tyler Moore robbing him of a hit on his final at-bat in the ninth.

Still, Blackmon leads the majors in runs (105), triples (13), multi-hit games (51) and total bases (291). He also leads the National League with 159 hits.

Miami's Justin Nicolino (1-1) allowed six hits, four walks and two runs, one earned, in 5 1/3 innings. He earned his first win at Marlins Park since May 3, 2016.

Jeff Hoffman (6-4) took the loss, allowing seven hits, three walks and four runs.

"I felt a little bit out of whack," said Hoffman, who is winless in his past five appearances, including three losses. "It didn't feel like much, but it was enough to affect everything."

Both teams scored in the first inning.

Blackmon led off the game with a single, stole second, advanced to third on a flyout and scored on Mark Reynolds' RBI single.

Miami tied the score 1-1 when Stanton doubled, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Marcell Ozuna's groundout.

After Stanton's two-out homer gave Miami a 4-1 lead, Colorado got one run back. Blackmon singled and stole second base again, advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher J.T. Realmuto and scored on DJ LeMahieu's sacrifice fly.

Colorado cut its deficit to 4-3 in the eighth. Reynolds drew a five-pitch walk, advanced to third on a Jonathan Lucroy single and scored on a Carlos Gonzalez groundout. Pinch hitter Ryan McMahon, making his major league debut, flied out to the edge of the warning track in center, ending the threat.

Brad Ziegler, who escaped a two-on jam, pitched a scoreless ninth for his fourth save. He struck out Gerardo Parra, who swung at a 2-2 pitch, to end the game.

NOTES: Colorado signed 1B Ryan Howard, 37, to a minor-league contract. Howard, who twice led the majors in homers, had been out of baseball since being released by the Atlanta Braves on May 8. ... Since 2000, only two players -- David Ortiz in 2006 and Chris Davis in 2013 -- have reached 40 homers quicker than Marlins RF Giancarlo Stanton, who accomplished the feat on Friday. ... When rosters can expand to up to 40 players on Sept. 1, look for the Marlins to promote 3B Brian Anderson, who is hitting .267 with 20 homers and 72 RBIs this year between Double-A and Triple-A. ... Rockies 3B Nolan Arenado and CF Charlie Blackmon rank 1-2 in the majors in extra-base hits. In baseball history, teammates have finished 1-2 in the majors in extra-base hits just three times: Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in 1926 and 1927 and Tony Armas and Dwight Evans for the 1984 Boston Red Sox.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Colorado   Miami
Jeff Hoffman Player Justin Nicolino
Loss W/L Win
5.0 IP 5.1
1 Strikeouts 2
7 Hits 6
7.20 ERA 1.69
Hitting
Colorado   Miami
Charlie Blackmon Player Giancarlo Stanton
4 Hits 3
0 RBI 3
0 HR 1
4 TB 7
.800 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Colorado 9 0 10 .273 19 7 3 6 2 0
Miami 10 1 15 .323 15 2 4 3 0 2