Birthday boy Jake Burger homers as Miami Marlins salvage finale vs New York Yankees
Miami Marlins infielder Jake Burger turned 28 on Wednesday.
He made sure he and his teammates had reason to celebrate.
Burger smashed a three-run home run against Marcus Stroman to lead the Marlins to a 5-2 win over the New York Yankees to salvage the series finale at Yankee Stadium after dropping the first two games of the series.
The Marlins are now 2-11. The Yankees fall to 10-3.
Burger’s home run, a 425-foot shot into the Marlins’ bullpen in left-center field, was his third home run of the season.
He became the 12th player in Marlins history to hit a home run on his birthday. The Marlins have also now had a player hit a home run on his birthday each of the past four seasons. Josh Bell did it in 2023, Joey Wendle in 2022 and Brian Anderson in 2021.
“Any time you can get a win and hit a home run on your birthday, it seems like a pretty good day,” Burger said. “I woke up this morning, and it’s what I wanted — a Marlins win. Fortunately, we got one.”
The home run capped a four-run third inning for the Marlins. Nick Gordon led off the frame with a walk, moved to third on a Nick Fortes single through the right side and scored on a Luis Arraez single through the left side. After a Josh Bell strikeout, Burger got hold of Stroman’s near middle-middle slider.
Burger now has a team-leading 15 RBI on the season.
“He hit a home run on his birthday. I think that’s a pretty good day for him,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “Overall, just a really good job by him. The zone was expanded at times tonight and he stayed within his game plan and his approach. He got a really good pitch to hit. He’s been one of the bright spots, no doubt about it.”
Miami tacked on another run in the ninth inning on a Fortes grounder to shortstop Anthony Volpe that scored Tim Anderson from second base on a hit and run.
The offense provided more than enough run support for Marlins pitching on Wednesday. Ryan Weathers threw five shutout innings, holding the Yankees (10-3) to just three hits and three walks.
Through three starts this season, Weathers has a 2.57 ERA over 14 innings.
“Just got to keep attacking and pounding the zone early,” Weathers said.
The bullpen took care of things from there, holding the Yankees to two runs over the final four innings.
Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run in the sixth against Bryan Hoeing — Stanton’s first home run against the Marlins since being traded to the Yankees ahead of the 2018 season — to break up the shutout. Juan Soto then hit an RBI double against Anthony Bender in the eighth to cut Miami’s lead to two runs.
Tanner Scott then took over with one out in the eighth and a runner on second and recorded the final five outs for his first save of the season, stranding the bases loaded in the ninth by getting Aaron Judge to fly out to center field to end the game.
“I didn’t mean to make it a little bit interesting with the bases loaded and two outs [in the ninth],” Scott said. “It was not fun and I need to do better on that part and stop walking people, especially after getting out of the eighth, but I was just trying to get out and go out there and just get out and just give us another win.”
Up next
After an off day Thursday, the Marlins begin a three-game home series with the Atlanta Braves that runs Friday through Sunday. The homestand continues with a three-game set against the San Francisco Giants from Monday through Wednesday.
