Coming home doesn’t change results as Marlins drop opener to Rockies. Takeaways from the loss
The Miami Marlins hoped that an off day and a return home would remedy their woes that have come since returning from the All-Star Break.
Instead, their season-long losing streak has been extended.
The Marlins dropped their series opener against the Colorado Rockies 6-1 on Friday at loanDepot park for their seventh consecutive defeat.
The loss comes after Miami dropped all six games of its games on a road trip following the All-Star Break, three games apiece to the Baltimore Orioles and St. Louis Cardinals.
The Marlins are the only team without a win since play resumed following the All-Star Break and are now 53-46 on the season after entering the break 14 games over .500 and with the second-best record in the National League.
“You’re going to have a couple of these peaks and valleys [during a season] and we’re in the valley right now,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “We’re frustrated. It’s tough. From my seat, I have to look myself in the mirror and try to figure out if there’s something that I’m not doing. ... The preparation has been the same as when we were going well. Right now, we’re just kind of in a funk.”
Here are three takeaways from the game.
Rockies take Braxton Garrett deep
Marlins starting pitcher Braxton Garrett, who impressed during the first half of the season, struggled mightily on Friday. The Rockies (38-59) tagged him for six runs on seven hits — including three home runs — in just three innings of work.
Five of Colorado’s six runs against Garrett came on the three home runs — two-run shots by C.J. Cron in the first inning and Jurickson Profar in the second as well as a solo home run by Elias Diaz in the third. It was just the second time this season Garrett has given up multiple home runs in a game, with the other being the 11-run shelling against the Atlanta Braves on May 3 when he allowed four home runs.
It also tied for Garrett’s shortest outing of the season. The other two times he only pitched three innings, however, came when he was still being used out of the bullpen (April 1 against the New York Mets) and when a start was stymied by a rain delay (April 27 against the Atlanta Braves).
Excluding Sunday against Baltimore when the Marlins opted for a bullpen game, Miami starting pitchers have combined for a 5.97 ERA (19 earned runs over 28 2/3 innings) ERA over the course of this losing streak.
Garrett has given up 10 of those earned runs over 7 2/3 innings, bumping his season ERA from 3.70 to 4.32.
No production on offense... again
In their six losses on the road, the Marlins failed to get the big hit but, if nothing else, had their chances to put runs on the board. In three losses to the Cardinals and three to the Orioles, Miami averaged just shy of 10 hits per game but only scored 21 total runs (3.5 runs per game).
Friday was different.
The Marlins had just seven hits and no more than two in any given inning against a Rockies team that entered Friday with the worst team starting pitcher ERA (6.48) and second-worst team ERA overall (5.62).
Peter Lambert, who made just his second start of the season, held the Marlins scoreless over five innings before turning the game over to the bullpen.
Miami’s only run came in the seventh, when a Nick Fortes groundout scored Bryan De La Cruz, who led off the inning with a single, got to second on a Jean Segura single and advanced to third on a wild pitch.
George Soriano mops up
If there was anything positive to come from Friday’s loss, it was George Soriano’s performance in mop-up duty after Garrett’s early exit.
Soriano, the Marlins’ No. 24 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, tossed four shutout innings, struck out eight and retired 12 of the 13 batters he faced, only issuing a two-out walk to Kris Bryant in the seventh.
The eight strikeouts tied the Marlins franchise record for most strikeouts in a game by a relief pitcher. Kevin Slowey set the record on June 8, 2013, when he struck out eight of 30 batters he faced over seven innings in a 2-1, 20-inning win over the Mets.
Four other pitchers in Marlins history have struck out seven batters in a relief outing: Elieser Hernandez (June 3, 2022 against the San Francisco Giants), Adam Conley (June 25, 2019 against the Washington Nationals), Merandy Gonzalez (May 29, 2018 at the Chicago Cubs) and Clay Hensley (April 30, 2010 against the Nationals).
