Marlins edge Bucs in ninth

Associated Press

pittsburgh

Don Mattingly looked at the group of media assembled in front of him and smiled.

“You’re going to need a whole new notebook to write down everything that happened in this game,” the Miami Marlins manager said Friday night.

Robert Andino hit a tiebreaking single in the top of the ninth inning, then the Marlins got Andrew McCutchen to ground into a game-ending double play with the bases loaded to hold off Pittsburgh 6-5 in a matchup of NL wild-card contenders.

“Anytime you get a win now, it’s big and it gives you momentum, at least until the next day,” Mattingly said. “It’s important for our guys to be in this situation, where they’ve playing important games at this time of year. We have a lot of guys who haven’t been through it before.”

JT Realmuto, who homered in going 3 for 3, drew a leadoff walk in the Miami ninth from Neftali Feliz (4-1). Realmuto moved up on a sacrifice bunt and scored when Andino lined his single into left field.

“Feliz throws really hard and you know it’s going to be a tough at-bat,” Andino said. “I just wanted to put the best swing on it that I could and it worked out.”

Christian Yelich and Miguel Rojas also each had three hits and a homer as the Marlins won for just the third time in nine games. The Pirates’ loss was their second in eight games.

Fernando Rodney wound up with his 22nd save in 24 opportunities. He issued an intentional walk to Starling Marte — who already had three hits — to load the bases for McCutchen.

The former NL MVP stayed stuck in a season-long slump when he bounced into a double play.

“It’s a tough decision,” Mattingly said. “At least, we have a (potential) force play if we load the bases, so if we get a ground ball then we have a chance to get (a double play).”