Two teams with just 14 hours to digest a crazy finish the night before will take the field for an afternoon game Saturday when the Colorado Rockies and San Francisco Giants continue their four-game series in California.

In a marathon ninth inning that lasted almost an hour, began with the bases loaded, ended with the bases loaded and featured an unusual ruling following a call reversal, the Rockies rallied, survived a scare, then staggered back to their hotel rooms with a 4-3 victory that evened the series at a game apiece.

The play that had both players and coaches scratching their heads began as a line drive to center field after the Giants, trailing 4-2, had put the potential tying runs aboard with one out in the bottom of the ninth.

Cole Carrigg made a diving attempt at the liner and was ruled to have caught the ball by first base umpire Lance Barksdale, sending the runners scampering back to their original bases.

Knowing the ball had been trapped, the Rockies tagged both base runners, which could have ended the game. And when, upon review, the ball had indeed not been caught, it appeared their forward thinking might be rewarded.

But Barksdale, the crew chief, ruled that his mistake had prevented the runners from advancing and moved them up 90 feet, loading the bases.

The Giants wound up scoring once and reloading the bases with two outs, setting the stage for rookie Bryce Eldridge, who launched a walk-off grand slam exactly one month earlier against Washington. But before the remaining fans could get their phone cameras pointed, Eldridge grounded Juan Mejia’s first pitch to second base, sending both teams to a much-needed shower.

“Death by a thousand cuts, unfortunately,” Giants manager Tony Vitello insisted to reporters afterward. “Plenty of drama. Plenty of ups and downs.”

It was fitting that Carrigg was in the middle of the late action in San Francisco, after having had to answer to a similar game — albeit a loss — in Los Angeles earlier in the week.

He promised failure wouldn’t prompt him to back down. And sure enough, he put the game on the line with his diving attempt, because if the ball had gotten past him, almost surely Schmitt would have rounded the bases for a walk-off, inside-the-park home run.

“The edge to win … I will never lose — it will never leave,” he assured reporters in LA. “That’s just how I’m wired.”

In a game that featured 23 position players and 12 pitchers, two of the best rested of the Rockies and Giants are slated to form the pitching matchup in the encore.

Colorado left-hander Kyle Freeland (2-7, 7.46 ERA) will be making his 29th career start against the Giants, his most against any opponent. Despite not facing San Francisco in either of its earlier visits to Colorado, he’s gone 8-9 with a 4.35 ERA against them.

He is scheduled to be opposed by fellow veteran Tyler Mahle (1-8, 5.70), who didn’t get a decision in a 7-6 loss in Colorado last Sunday in which he allowed four runs (three earned) in 4 1/3 innings. The no-decision extended his winless streak to nine starts dating back to April 22.

The right-hander has gone 2-1 with a 5.21 ERA in seven lifetime starts against the Rockies.

–Field Level Media

Winners of 26 of their last 35 games, the Miami Marlins are one of the most surprising teams in baseball. But the real shock is how the Marlins are getting it done.

Exhibit A is shortstop Otto Lopez, a first-time All-Star this season who was acquired in 2024 after he was designated for assignment by the San Francisco Giants.

The Marlins, who will host the Cleveland Guardians on Saturday afternoon, have won 16 of their past 19 home games. And Lopez leads the majors with a .341 batting average.

“He hits the ball all over the place,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. “If he gets two hits in a game, you’re not surprised.”

But Lopez is not the only key player the Marlins have picked up on the cheap.

Liam Hicks, who leads the team with 57 RBIs, was picked up in the Rule 5 Draft.

Javier Sanoja, who won a Gold Glove Award last year as a utility player, was signed by the Marlins in 2019 out of Venezuela for only $90,000.

Second baseman Xavier Edwards was acquired from Tampa Bay for two prospects in a steal of a deal. Edwards has an .811 OPS, and he averaged 29 steals over the previous two completed seasons.

Outfielder Kyle Stowers became a first-time All-Star last year after being acquired from Baltimore for Trevor Rogers.

On Saturday, the Marlins will start right-hander Eury Perez (5-6, 3.84 ERA), who signed with the team out of the Dominican Republic for $200,000.

Perez, who is 1-0 with a 7.20 ERA in his one career start against Cleveland, has been hot over his past five outings, going 3-0 with an 0.99 ERA.

Cleveland will turn to hard-luck right-hander Tanner Bibee (2-9, 4.06 ERA) to start Saturday’s game.

Bibee set a franchise record this year by going winless in his first 13 starts; he went 0-7 during that span. However, Bibee pitched better than that record as he had six quality starts. Since June 1, he is 2-2 with two no-decisions and four quality starts.

Bibee, victimized by poor run support and a leaky bullpen, is 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA in his only career start against the Marlins. He has never pitched in Miami.

The Guardians, who are bidding for a third straight American League Central title, are not flashy. They entered this weekend ranked last in the AL in runs, batting average, slugging percentage and OPS.

However, they rank eighth in the majors in ERA, and they ended Miami’s six-game winning streak with a 3-2 victory on Friday.

One major issue for the Guardians is the injury to third baseman Jose Ramirez (hand). Ramirez, who hasn’t played since June 13, is a six-time Silver Slugger Award winner.

The Guardians also are missing left fielder Angel Martinez (foot injury).

Those two batters have combined for 21 homers this season, and their absence is at the heart of Cleveland’s offensive woes.

The Guardians are just 9-13 without Ramirez this season, and outfielder Chase DeLauter is looking for the team to turn things around.

“Hopefully, we can take a couple of games in Miami and roll into the All-Star break,” he said. “Then we can come back fresh, ready to rock.”

–Field Level Media

Yankees right-hander Cam Schlittler looks for his 10th win of the season when New York visits the Washington Nationals in the middle game of their series on Saturday.

The Yankees have won two straight for the first time since June 23-24 thanks to Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s heroics on Friday night when he hit a two-run go-ahead homer and New York rallied past Washington 5-3.

Schlittler (9-5, 2.01 ERA) opposes right-hander Miles Mikolas (3-7, 5.78) in the middle game.

The Yankees All-Star recently followed up his worst start of the season with arguably his best. On June 30, he gave up six runs on seven hits — four of them home runs — in four innings of a loss to the Detroit Tigers. Last time out, he stifled the Tampa Bay Rays, giving up one run on four hits in eight innings. He struck out eight batters without a walk.

“It was huge. I’m not surprised he bounced back from arguably his toughest outing of his career so far against the Tigers,” manager Aaron Boone said. “He was great. He was dominant. He was efficient.”

It matched his longest start of the season, an eight-inning effort in a win against the Red Sox on April 23.

Schlittler tossed six scoreless innings to beat the Nationals last season.

Mikolas is looking to bounce back from a pair of losses in which he gave up 13 runs on 18 hits (four homers) over 13 innings. Against the Houston Astros on July 6, he allowed seven runs on nine hits in six innings. He settled in after giving up six early runs.

Washington won 12-11 making Mikolas the first Nationals pitcher (2005-present) to give up seven runs and get a win.

“It reminds you that you’re never really out of a game, even if you feel pretty bad about the first couple of innings,” he said.

On Friday night, the Nationals got back-to-back homers from Keibert Ruiz and James Wood to take a 3-2 lead in the seventh. Nationals manager Blake Butera called on left-hander Matt Krook to work the ninth against two lefties and a switch hitter for what would have been his first big-league save.

Krook got the first out, but gave up a single to Jasson Dominguez and then Chisholm’s home run into the second deck on a 1-1 sweeper.

“That was a big blow,” Boone said. “That’s not a comfortable at-bat necessarily and to hang in there and stay on that pitch and I mean absolutely destroy it was a big time at-bat.”

Dominguez and Austin Wells also homered for the Yankees.

Wood finished a triple short of the cycle and scored twice. He has 11 hits and 13 walks in his last 27 plate appearances, striking out just three times in that span. Wood has homered in three of his past four games.

Washington’s bullpen has blown a league-high 26 saves this season. In their past 16 games, they have allowed four go-ahead homers in the ninth inning.

“When you’re facing three hitters in the ninth like these guys (tonight), it doesn’t help your case at all,” Butera said. “But at the end of the day, these guys in the bullpen are going to have to get big outs for us.”

–Field Level Media