ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Xavier Edwards drove in three runs, and Jake Burger and Jonah Bride homered to help Roddery Muñoz beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-2 Wednesday for the rookie's first win in nearly three months.
Edwards had a sacrifice fly and two-run single for the Marlins, who overcame a pair of one-run deficits to salvage a two-game split and send Taj Bradley (6-5) to his first loss since June 8.
Muñoz (2-5), a 24-year-old right-hander, had been 0-5 in 10 starts since beating Colorado on May 1 for his first major league win. He allowed two runs and four hits while striking out seven over five innings. He gave up a solo homer to Christopher Morel in the first and RBI triple to Jonny DeLuca in the second.
''The confidence I have received from my manager and coaching staff have been very very helpful,'' Muñoz said through an interpreter. ''I had good days and bad days, but you know I always try to go out there and make sure I compete and give everything I got.''
Bradley had won three straight starts and was 5-0 in eight outings since consecutive losses to Baltimore in early June. He had not allowed a run in 24 consecutive innings — the longest active streak in the majors — before Bride went deep in the second inning. Burger homered for the second straight game, a two-run shot that gave the Marlins a 4-2 lead in the third.
Rays manager Kevin Cash felt Bradley was not quite as sharp as he had been over his previous eight outings, which included a stretch of three straight starts of six-plus scoreless innings entering Wednesday.
''Still, I thought he kept us in the ballgame when it wasn't coming easy for him,'' Cash said.
Edwards, who had a sacrifice fly in the third, broke open the game with a two-run single off reliever Edwin Uceta in the seventh.