PHOENIX - Gabriel Moreno did his part. The rest of the night did not cooperate.
Moreno went 3-for-4 with a solo home run and raised his average to .307 as the Arizona Diamondbacks fell 4-3 to the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night at Chase Field, per ESPN's box and the Associated Press account. His fifth-inning drive to left - measured at 384 feet - was one of three solo homers Arizona hit.
It was not enough to erase an early Miami lead or a late save from Sandy Alcantara.
Pavin Smith homered to right-center in the second (424 feet). Moreno went deep in the fifth. Nolan Arenado answered in the eighth with a 413-foot shot to left-center. Three swings, three runs, and still a one-run loss. ESPN's box matches that power profile: Moreno three hits and an RBI, Smith 2-for-4 with a homer, Arenado 2-for-4 with a homer.
Marlins build the lead
Jakob Marsee doubled to start a two-run second and later hit an 11th home run - a two-run shot in the third off Merrill Kelly - as Miami built a 4-0 cushion, the AP reported. Heriberto Hernandez finished 4-for-5 with an RBI. A Nolan Arenado throwing error helped an unearned run across.
Kelly (9-14), making his 200th major league start, lasted 4 2/3 innings: seven hits, four runs (three earned), two walks and nine strikeouts, per ESPN's pitching line.
Arizona chipped away with the three solo homers and nothing else clustered. That is the hard part of a 4-3 defeat - enough damage to stay close, not enough traffic to take the lead. Jonathan Loaisiga threw a scoreless inning of relief with one strikeout after Kelly exited.
