Thirty years ago, the Marlins and Rockies were already building a habit of tight finishes, and Florida made sure the series ended with another one.
On Aug. 15, 1996 at Joe Robbie Stadium, the Marlins erased a late deficit and beat Colorado 7-6 in the bottom of the ninth, completing a three-game sweep with a comeback that followed the same script as the night before. In the previous game, Joe Orsulak’s solo homer in the eighth had delivered a 2-1 clincher in Florida’s final at-bat. This time, the Marlins needed a little more traffic and a little more time, but the result was the same.
The game was tied 4-4 after Édgar Rentería’s two-run single in the Florida seventh, only for Colorado to answer immediately in the top of the eighth. Jayhawk Owens pushed the Rockies back ahead with a sacrifice fly, and Walt Weiss followed on the next pitch with an RBI triple to make it 6-4.
That left Florida staring at a two-run hole against reliever Curt Leskanic. Devon White opened the bottom of the eighth with a double, Leskanic struck out Jesús Tavárez, and then Kurt Abbott drew a walk to force Colorado to make a move. Bruce Ruffin came in with two aboard and one out, and it did not take long for the inning to flip.
Alex Arias greeted Ruffin with a first-pitch double down the third-base line, scoring two and tying the game. Arias advanced to third on the throw home, and Jeff Conine brought him in one pitch later with a sacrifice fly for the go-ahead run.
Robb Nen finished it off in the ninth, getting a pair of ground balls back to the mound, including a double play, to work a clean frame and earn the save. Jay Powell got the win for Florida even though the Rockies had done the damage in the top of the eighth.
The Marlins had spent most of the night chasing. Colorado scored first in the opening inning, Florida answered with Gary Sheffield’s solo homer in the bottom of the first, and the Rockies then broke loose for three runs in the third. Orsulak’s RBI single in the fifth trimmed the gap to 4-2 before Rentería’s big hit tied it later.
Ellis Burks, Weiss and Andrés Galarraga each finished with two hits and an RBI for Colorado. Abbott scored two of Florida’s seven runs.
The sweep fit into a strong season against the Rockies. Florida went 8-5 overall in 1996 and was a perfect 7-0 at home against Colorado. The Marlins finished that season 80-82, then a franchise-best record, and these final two meetings with the Rockies stood out as the kind of late-inning drama that made that summer memorable.
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