Marlins sweep Blue Jays, Guerrero falls short of 200-hit season

TORONTO (AP) — Jonah Bride reached base three times and drove in two runs, Otto Lopez had two hits and an RBI against his former team and the Miami Marlins completed a three-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays, winning 3-1 in Sunday’s regular-season finale.

“It’s a good moment, especially to end the season this way,” bench coach Luis Urueta said.

Ryan Weathers (5-6) allowed one run and three hits in 6 1/3 innings to win his second straight start. Weathers walked two and struck out six.

Weathers pitched out of a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam in the first inning and retired 16 straight batters between the second and seventh.

“It felt good,” Weathers said. “Any time you can do well against a quality lineup is good.”

Anthony Bender got the final four outs for his first save in five chances as Miami swept a series for the second time.

Toronto lost eight of its final nine games to go 7-17 in September. The Blue Jays finished 39-42 at home.

Manager John Schneider put slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the leadoff spot, hoping to increase his chances of becoming the sixth player in Blue Jays history to reach 200 hits.

Guerrero went 0 for 2 with a strikeout and walked twice to finish with 199 hits.

Fans booed when Miami’s Lake Bachar missed with a 3-2 fastball in Guerrero’s final plate appearance in the eighth, then rose for a standing ovation when Guerrero was replaced by pinch runner Nathan Lukes.

No Blue Jays player has had a 200-hit season since Vernon Wells (215) in 2003.

Milestone chase or not, Guerrero said he wasn’t tempted to swing at Bachar’s full-count pitch.

“It was easy for me,” Guerrero said through a translator. “I’m not just going to strike out trying to get a hit knowing that I can get a walk.”

Toronto was swept for the fifth time and finished 74-88, its worst record since going 67-95 in 2019.

“We’ve got to get better at everything,” Guerrero said.

The Blue Jays went 89-73 last season, good for the third AL wild card.

The Marlins also saw a major decline from 2023, when they finished 84-78 and earned an NL wild-card berth. Despite winning five of their final six, Miami’s final record was 62-100.

“It’s a young group of players and they have a bright future,” Urueta said. “They’ve just got to keep working.”

The Blue Jays drew a crowd of 31,688, pushing total attendance for the year to 2,681,236. That was down from 3,021,904 in 2023.

Urueta, handling his second game in place of the absent Skip Schumaker, put Jake Burger atop his lineup. Burger came in with 29 home runs. He singled and scored in the first but didn’t reach base again.

Bride hit a two-run single off Blue Jays opener Ryan Burr (0-2) in the first.

Bride walked against Dillon Tate in the sixth, advanced on a single and scored when Lopez doubled.

Bride hit .326 with six home runs and 17 RBIs in 26 September games.

“I think he’s got a future here,” Urueta said.

Schumacher missed his second game after leaving the team because of a medical issue in his family.

ROSTER MOVES

Blue Jays: Toronto recalled LHP Brandon Eisert from Triple-A Buffalo and optioned RHP Yariel Rodríguez to the Spring Training Complex.

UP NEXT

Marlins: Miami begins its 2025 Spring Training schedule by hosting St. Louis on Feb. 22.

Blue Jays: Toronto begins the 2025 Grapefruit League schedule by hosting the New York Yankees on Feb. 22.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb