Blue Jays sunk by Marte's late homer in Marlins debut
Jonathan Villar, Robbie Ray make Toronto debut after trade deadline acquisitions
Starling Marte celebrated his Miami debut with a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning, helping the Marlins top the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 on Tuesday night.
Marte, who was acquired in a trade with Arizona on Monday, drove a 1-0 pitch from Shun Yamaguchi (1-3) deep to left-centre for his third homer. He also reached on an error in the sixth and scored from first on Garrett Cooper's double.
"Once I hit the ball I felt it," Marte said through a translator. "I knew it was gone and when I got to the dugout, it was great to enjoy it with the guys. I felt their support. It was a very joyful moment."
Jon Berti homered for Miami, which moved back above .500 at 16-15. It had dropped its last eight home games.
Manager Don Mattingly said he thought Monday's 5-3 win over Jacob deGrom and the New York Mets was a big energy boost for the team.
"You can feel that energy in our clubhouse today and on the field," he said. "And to be able to pull a win just adds to it."
Robbie Ray made his debut for Toronto, pitching 3 1/3 innings in relief of Julian Merryweather. Ray, who came over in a trade with the Diamondbacks on Monday, allowed two runs, one earned, and four hits.
Ray = Blue Jay 😃<br><br>Welcome, <a href="https://twitter.com/RobbieRay?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RobbieRay</a>! 👋 <a href="https://t.co/8FONQJvg4z">pic.twitter.com/8FONQJvg4z</a>
—@BlueJays"It's been a whirlwind, getting the call yesterday with my family, I have a wife and three kids, we were all in the car together," Ray said. "We had a day off, so we were all just kind of hanging out and get the phone call, immediately in my head I started scrambling because I had to get to Chase Field to get my bag, and I hadn't done any laundry yet, so scrambling to pack a bag for that.
"But I was excited, excited to be here and be a part of this team. So I think that was the one emotion I was really feeling, was excitement."
Berti's second homer tied it at 1 in the third. But Derek Fisher put Toronto back in front with a sacrifice fly in the fourth.
Miami right-hander Elieser Hernandez departed in the third because of a sore lat muscle. Hernandez raised his hands after he threw three consecutive balls to Cavan Biggio and looked toward catcher Jorge Alfaro, prompting a mound visit from Mattingly and training staff.
Hernandez allowed one run and two hits in two-plus innings.
