Rookie catcher Adrian Del Castillo, a Miami native playing his first pro game in his hometown, slugged a grand slam and drove in six runs, leading the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 9-6 win over the host Marlins on Monday night.
Del Castillo went 2-for-4 with a walk and his first career stolen base. He also threw a runner out attempting to steal second.
Arizona is 7-2 in games played by Del Castillo, who has 14 RBIs in that span.
Brandon Pfaadt (8-6) earned the win despite allowing nine hits, two walks and four runs in 5 1/3 innings. The Diamondbacks have won five straight games with Pfaadt pitching.
Two players made their Marlins debut — third baseman Connor Norby and starting pitcher Adam Oller.
Norby beat out an infield single in his first plate appearance and finished 1-for-4 with one RBI and one run. Oller (0-1) gave six free passes in 4 2/3 innings — four walks and two hit-by-pitches. He allowed three hits and five runs.
Nick Fortes had a solo home run and an RBI sacrifice fly as Miami lost for the fourth time in five games.
Arizona opened the scoring in the third inning. Oller hit two batters with pitches — Jake McCarthy and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. — before Pavin Smith drew a two-out walk to load the bases.
Then, on a 1-0 count, the lefty-swinging Del Castillo pulled a would-be homer just foul. Two balls later, Del Castillo slugged his grand slam 414 feet to center.
Miami cut its deficit to 4-1 in the bottom of the third as Fortes lined a 103-mph solo homer to left.
Arizona got that run back in the fifth as Joc Pederson pulled a solo homer to right on a high pitch that was well above the strike zone.
Miami made it 4-2 in the fifth on a rally that started with no-out singles by Kyle Stowers and Fortes. Stowers later scored on Xavier Edwards’ groundout.
In the sixth, the Marlins got their first two runners on again as Jesus Sanchez walked and Derek Hill singled. The Marlins cashed in on Norby’s RBI groundout and Stowers’ run-scoring single, making it 5-4.
But the Diamondbacks came back with Del Castillo’s two-run single past a drawn-in infield in the seventh and McCarthy’s two-run homer in the eighth, making it 9-4.
The Marlins closed the scoring with two runs in the ninth on Fortes’ sacrifice fly and Edwards’ RBI double.
–Field Level Media