Jakob Marsee hit a two-run homer and a double as the Miami Marlins held off Arizona 4-3 on Wednesday in Phoenix to further damage the Diamondbacks’ National League wild-card chances.
Heriberto Hernandez collected four singles and an RBI and Otto Lopez added two hits for the Marlins, who won two of three in the series and have won four of five overall.
Pavin Smith, Gabriel Moreno and Nolan Arenado hit bases-empty homers for the D-backs, who have lost four of five and fell another game back in the wild-card race.
Arizona (80-73) is 3 1/2 games behind the San Diego Padres (83-69) for the third and final NL wild-card spot and as the top three wild-card contenders all won on Wednesday. The Chicago Cubs (85-68) hold a one-half game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies (84-68) for the top spot.
Arenado went deep in the eighth to cut the deficit to one.
Miami’s Sandy Alcantara worked a scoreless ninth inning for his first career save in his first relief appearance since his rookie season in 2017.
Alcantara walked Lars Nootbaar with two outs, but pinch runner Jordan Lawlar was thrown out attempting to steal second to end the game. The D-backs appealed, but the call stood. Alcantara started and tossed five innings of four-run ball in the series opener on Monday.
Moreno went 3-for-4 and finished a triple short of the cycle. He has three homers in his past four games.
Marsee went 5-for-10 with two homers and three RBIs in the series.
Arizona starter Merrill Kelly (9-14) gave up seven hits and four runs (three earned) in 4 2/3 innings, striking out a season-high nine and walking two.
Cade Gibson (5-1) replaced Marlins starter Ryan Gusto in the fifth and fired 1 2/3 shutout innings. Three Miami relievers limited the D-backs to one run in the final 4 2/3 innings.
Gusto gave up eight hits and two runs in 4 1/3 innings, leaving after Moreno homered and Gerardo Perdomo singled in the fifth. He struck out four and walked one.
Marsee doubled in a two-run second and stole third before Xavier Edwards and Kyle Stowers walked to load the bases with two outs. Hernandez beat out a single behind third to drive in one run, and a second scored on the play when Arenado committed a throwing error.
Smith’s 424-foot homer closed the gap to 2-1 in the second.
Javier Sanoja singled before Marsee’s 420-foot homer in the third for a 4-1 lead. Moreno made it 4-2 in the fifth with his 384-footer.
Sanoja extended his career-best on-base streak to 16 games. He is hitting .369 (24-for-65) since Aug. 31.