After squandering early opportunity, Marlins go down quietly in series finale to Mets
The Miami Marlins potentially had the New York Mets on the ropes in the first inning Sunday. They had already scored one run in the frame as they tried to erase an early deficit and were threatening to add more against Kodai Senga after loading the bases with no outs.
“We had them on the ropes,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “No doubt.”
What followed? Strikeout. Strikeout. Lineout.
The Marlins squandered their one true scoring opportunity in what eventually became a 5-1 loss to the Mets to cap a four-game series at loanDepot park. Miami went 1-3 in the series, also losing 5-3 on Thursday and 6-2 on Saturday while winning 2-1 on Friday.
The Marlins mustered just four hits and nine total baserunners in the game.
Two of those hits and four of those baserunners came in the bottom of the first. Luis Arraez led off with a single and scored on a Jorge Soler double before Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Avisail Garcia drew back-to-back walks to load the bases with no outs.
Senga, the Mets’ 30-year-old righty making his MLB debut after playing 11 years in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league, settled in from there. He struck out Yuli Gurriel and Jesus Sanchez before getting Jon Berti to line out to right field to limit the damage against him to one run in a 36-pitch inning.
“We’re trying to put the ball in play, at least get one more [run] right there,” Schumaker said. “That would have been nice, but two big strikeouts in a row. Obviously, everyone wants to get a hit in those situations, a sac fly, something. Just put the ball in play. There’s value in putting the ball in play when there’s nobody out. Even if it’s a double play, that’s a run scored. And they know that, but it would have been nice to get another one right there at least.”
The Marlins didn’t get another runner in scoring position until the eighth inning.
Senga settled in after his long first inning and struck out eight over 5 1/3 innings. All eight of his strikeouts came on his forkball, a pitch similar to a split-finger fastball.
“He didn’t have command of it the first inning or two and then he found it and you could see we had some tough swings and couldn’t pick it up,” Schumaker said. “The second and third time through [the lineup], his fastball command got better, which obviously helped the split. There were some tough swings on that pitch. Guys just couldn’t pick it up. It was pretty late movement. Credit to him for also going as far as he did in the game. Credit to him for fighting through and giving them five-plus [innings].”
The Mets’ bullpen of Dennis Santana, John Curtiss and Stephen Nogosek held Miami off the scoreboard for the final 3 2/3 innings.
Miami finished the four-game series hitting 4 for 27 with runners in scoring position and left 25 runners on base.
The Mets opened scoring with a two-run first inning against Trevor Rogers who, like Senga, needed 36 pitches to get out of the opening frame.
Rogers, the Marlins’ 25-year-old lefty trying to bounce back after a rough 2022 season, nearly got out of the frame unscathed when Francisco Lindor hit a ground ball to third base for what could have been an inning-ending double play but Yuli Gurriel couldn’t keep hold of the ball at first base for the potential third out.
Rogers then walked Pete Alonso and Mark Canha, both on four pitches, to load the bases before Jeff McNeil hit a dribbler down the first-base line and Rogers made an errant throw to first, which allowed two runners to score.
“Just really amped up that first inning,” Rogers said. “Had a tough time really getting my heart rate under control. Kind of got my command out of whack. Really just got to clean that up.”
Tommy Pham took care of the rest for the Mets, hitting a two-run home run against Rogers in the fifth and adding an RBI double against Huascar Brazoban in the seventh.
This and that
▪ Arraez had two hits on Sunday and has nine hits total through his first four games with the Marlins. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Arraez is just the second player in Marlins history to reach base safely as the starting leadoff hitter in each of the first four games to start a season. Hanley Ramirez also did it in 2006.
▪ Garcia on Sunday became the first Marlins batter to strike out due to a pitch-clock violation. He was not set and attentive to the pitcher with eight seconds left on the clock while facing a 3-2 count.
“It happened a couple times in spring training, too, with Avi getting the [automatic] called strike,” Schumaker said. “This one was a strikeout obviously in a game that really counts. He’s used to taking his time a little bit before the new rules, and he’s still adjusting to it. I think that one was pretty close, but it’s still the rule. It’s just something that he’s going to have to get used to and get back in the box a little quicker.”
▪ The Marlins struck out 41 times in the four-game series.
▪ The combined stats of Miami’s starting pitchers against the Mets: Nine runs (eight earned runs) allowed on 11 hits and 16 walks with 13 strikeouts over 19 2/3 innings.
