Record 11-run inning paces Marlins in shutout W

MILWAUKEE -- The way the ball was jumping out of the park in batting practice, Marlins manager Don Mattingly was bracing for a high-scoring night. He was correct, but didn’t imagine all the fireworks would come from his own lineup.

Backed by a franchise-record of 11 runs in an inning (the fifth), the Marlins steamrolled to a 16-0 victory over the Brewers on Tuesday night at Miller Park.

“The ball was flying today,” Mattingly said. “Seriously. BP was a joke today here. The roof open. ... You didn't really feel like you had enough runs, even when you get four, you're not comfortable. You start to get comfortable when you get that other inning. I felt better there.”

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Garrett Cooper hammered out four hits, and homered. Starlin Castro added a two-run homer, and Brian Anderson tacked on a solo shot.

“Guys were kind of running over to the bat rack,” Anderson said. “Guys were wanting their at-bats. It's pretty exciting.”

Entering the night, right-hander Pablo Lopez ranked fourth among National League starters in run support, with Miami averaging 2.97 runs during his appearances. Lopez had plenty of breathing room, throwing six shutout innings, fanning seven.

“It's real fun seeing all of the guys keeping the line moving, putting great swings on the ball, getting the barrel to it,” Lopez said. “It makes you go to the mound, knowing they have your back, and you want to just go out there and stay on the attack. Be aggressive. You just want to execute your pitch and stay with the plan.”

The Marlins’ breakout offensive night changed that. The 16 runs are a season high, and the 19 hits matched the most this year.

“You want to forget this one as fast as you can, so I think [Brewers infielder Hernan Perez, who pitched in the ninth] going out there starts to help you forget about it a little bit," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "They kicked our butts tonight."

The Marlins have won three straight, and have scored at least nine runs in three straight games.

Scratching out runs has been a season-long problem for the Marlins, who rank last in the Majors in the category.

But in the fifth inning, the Marlins rapped out nine hits, and sent 15 to the plate before the inning mercifully came to a close when Corbin Burnes struck out Jorge Alfaro for the third out. The partisan Milwaukee crowd cheered the end of an inning that allowed Miami to build a commanding 15-0 advantage.

The 11 runs eclipses the Marlins’ mark for most runs ever in team history. Twice previously, they had 10, with the most recent coming on Aug. 12, 2015, against the Red Sox.

According to Elias, the Marlins are the first team to have all nine batters record an RBI in a frame since the Giants had 10 batters log an RBI in the seventh inning on July 15, 1997, at San Diego.

The Marlins entered the day as the lowest-scoring team in MLB, but their big fifth inning had some historical significance. It was the biggest inning by a team that entered the day last in MLB in runs per game in June or later since the Boston Bees had an 11-run first inning on Aug. 25, 1936.

“You don't want it to stop,” Cooper said. “That's definitely something you want to keep going, 11 runs in an inning. I don't think it's been done too many times. To get everybody up to the plate, and drive in runs. That's pretty crazy.”

Previously, the Marlins’ high for runs in an inning was five, completed most recently on Saturday at San Diego.

Brewers relievers Taylor Williams and Burnes combined to throw 58 pitches in the prolonged fifth.

Cooper, who had four hits, started the inning with a single, and had two hits in the fifth. Castro, Harold Ramirez and Lopez each had RBI doubles. Everyone in the lineup reached and scored, and only Anderson, who walked, didn’t have a hit in the frame.

“The first inning, I was a little worried,” Mattingly said. “They just missed a couple of balls. Even though you get a couple in the first, you know in this ballpark, you really don't have enough. You can't just sit back.”