Mike Stanton has five RBIs for Marlins

Associated Press

MIAMI

Last week, Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez suggested that Mike Stanton wear his gray pants for home games to turn around the rookie slugger’s misfortunes at Sun Life Stadium.

Stanton was entirely against the idea — he went into Thursday night’s game hitting just .161 at home, but .320 on the road.

Stanton gave his fans something to cheer about as he homered and drove in five runs and the Marlins held on for an 11-9 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“I don’t know if it’s the atmosphere or the orange seats, I don’t know,” Stanton said. “This place hasn’t treated me very well but you can’t be complaining about that. I play 80 games here next year. Hopefully I play a little better here next year.”

Pedro Alvarez, one of the Pirates’ top rookies, hit a three-run homer off Jose Veras in the ninth to pull the Pirates within 11-9. Leo Nunez came in and struck out the final two batters to record his 30th save in 38 opportunities.

Alvarez went 4 for 5 with five RBIs.

“I’ve been trying to make adjustments, learn as much as I can this whole year, and finish off on a strong foot,” Alvarez said.

Even Alvarez has been impressed by Stanton.

“He’s a great player and I know he’s going to have a bright future,” Alvarez said. “He’s impressive to see hit, the kind of power he’s got, and how mature he is for such a young guy.”

Wes Helms drove in two runs in the Marlins’ four-run first inning and starter Chris Volstad (12-9) pitched six innings, allowing two runs. Volstad went 3-0 with a 0.83 ERA in his final three starts.

“Looking back, it’s just executing pitches,” Volstad said. “You get two strikes on a guy, you don’t have to throw 95, you just have to locate.”

Rookies Stanton, Logan Morrison, Gaby Sanchez and Ozzie Martinez accounted for 10 of the Marlins’ 13 hits.

Stanton had an RBI single in the first, a three-run homer off Zach Duke (8-15) to deep center field in the fourth, and another RBI single in the sixth. The home run was his 22nd of the season.