Pablo Lopez gets redemption, Marlins beat Braves and Miami’s playoff hopes get a boost
Pablo Lopez’s opportunity for redemption and the Miami Marlins’ need for a critical win converged on Thursday.
It was at this ballpark, three starts and 15 days ago, that Lopez took the mound and had the worst start of his three-year career as a Major League Baseball pitcher. The Atlanta Braves shelled him for seven runs over 1 2/3 innings that day. He gave up four hits and walked four more to set the stage for one of the worst loss in Marlins’ history, a 29-9 defeat at Truist Park.
It has also been at this ballpark, over the last three days, that the Marlins failed to help their cause in their playoff hunt with time and games quickly running out. They gave up early leads on Monday and Wednesday and were blown out on Tuesday as Atlanta clinched its third consecutive divisional title.
Lopez would not allow the Braves to have a repeat performance like they did just over two weeks ago. The offense, immediately after Lopez walked off the mound, made sure the Marlins would salvage the last opportunity they had in this series.
Final score: Marlins 4, Braves 2.
The Marlins improve to 29-28 with three games left in this 60-game season. They have a one-game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies (28-29) for second place in the National League East. The top two teams in each division plus the next best two teams in each league advance to the postseason this year.
Miami’s magic number to secure that second-place spot is two.
Lopez’s strong start
The Marlins’ success on Thursday began with Lopez.
The 24-year-old righty shut down one of the hottest offenses in baseball for five scoreless innings, holding Atlanta to two hits and two walks while striking out six. He threw 84 pitches, 50 of which went for strikes.
All this after waiting out a pregame delay of more than 90 minutes due to inclement weather and playing as rain poured down throughout the game.
In the three games since the first start at Truist Park on Sept. 9, Lopez has gone on to give up just three earned runs over 17 1/3 innings (a 1.56 ERA) while striking out 19 batters against five walks.
“I thought it was impressive on his part,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said pregame. “That was a tough outing he had but ... Pablo, you know he’s going to be doing his work. You know he’s going to be prepared. The fact that he’s able to put a game behind him is a good sign for him because that’s what you have to do in this game. He’s bounced back. You feel good when he’s on the mound.”
And, right now, Mattingly feels good when Chad Wallach is catching Lopez.
Wallach has caught each of Lopez’s starts since the shelling at Truist Park two weeks ago, and the results have benefited Lopez.
For comparison, Lopez had a 2.08 ERA with 20 strikeouts against one walk over 17 1/3 innings in three starts with Francisco Cervelli.
Meanwhile, Lopez’s four games with Jorge Alfaro behind the plate, which includes the first Truist Park game, have resulted in a 7.13 ERA with 16 strikeouts against eight walks over 17 2/3 innings.
Even if you take the first road game with the Braves out of the equation, Lopez still has a 3.94 ERA, 14 strikeouts and four walks in his other starts with Alfaro.
(Ryan Lavarnway also caught one of Lopez’s games. Lopez gave up three runs, two earned, on five hits with four walks and four strikeouts over five innings against the Mets that day).
Lopez finishes the regular season with a 6-4 record, a 3.61 ERA and 59 strikeouts against 18 walks over 57 1/3 innings in 11 starts. He held opponents to a .230 batting average and gave up just four home runs over 240 batters faced.
Offense picks it up late
After squandering a few opportunities early, the Marlins finally broke through against Braves starter Ian Anderson in the top of the sixth. Wallach lined a fastball to right field for a two-out RBI single that scored Brian Anderson, who reached on a fielding error and moved to third on a Garrett Cooper single. It marked the third time over the four-game series that Miami took the first lead of a game.
The Marlins kept this one, though.
Jon Berti followed up on the next at-bat with a two-run double to left. It was Berti’s third hit of the game.
Jesus Aguilar, who extended his hitting streak to five consecutive games with a first-inning single, belted out his eighth home run of the year in the seventh.
Stopping a rally
It was enough to withstand the Braves’ late rally attempt.
Atlanta (34-23) loaded the bases on Brad Boxberger in the eighth with no outs on a Marcell Ozuna single, Travis d’Arnaud double and Ozzie Albies walk. Mattingly brought in closer Brandon Kintzler to get Miami out of the jam.
Kintzler held Atlanta to just two runs on a Dansby Swanson one-out single off Miguel Rojas’ glove in a diving attempt to field the ball. Nick Markakis grounded out and Adeiny Hechavarria flew out to shallow center field to end the inning. Kintzler struck out Adam Duvall swinging for the first out. Kintzler threw a scoreless ninth to earn the two-inning save.
In the seventh, Richard Bleier stranded Braves runners on the corners when he struck out Freddie Freeman swinging on an 88.1 mph sinker to cap a 10-pitch battle.
This story was originally published September 25, 2020 at 12:24 AM.
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