Marlins fall to Giants again, drop three of four in San Francisco to start road trip
Jesus Aguilar kept it from being a shutout. The Miami Marlins’ first baseman on Sunday slugged a two-run home run in the eighth inning — his third in as many days — against the San Francisco Giants.
The Marlins’ offense was practically non-existent at Oracle Park on Sunday until a late rally attempt that fell short in their 4-3 loss to the Giants. Miami (9-12) dropped three of four games in the set, falling 3-0 on Thursday and 5-3 on Friday before rallying for a 5-2 win on Saturday.
The Marlins recorded 19 hits over the four games against the Giants, 14 of which came in the final two games. Nine of Miami’s 11 runs in the series came in either the eighth or ninth innings.
Miami got within a run when Lewis Brinson hit an RBI single to score Jon Berti with two outs in the ninth, but Jazz Chisholm Jr. grounded out to seal the loss.
“Another one of those frustrating days that you just don’t seem to get anything going,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said, “and then all of a suddent you get a hit and a homer. ... It was just a matter of, again, it’s been dead spells where you have no real chances and then all of a sudden you get two and they ignite fire, but obviously came up a little short there.”
The Giants (14-8) took the lead for good with a three-run second inning against Marlins reliever Paul Campbell. Wilmer Flores led off the inning with a walk, reached third on a Tommy La Stella single to right and scored on a Mauricio Dubon bunt single. San Francisco starting pitcher Logan Webb then hit a two-run triple to right-center to give the Giants a 3-0 lead.
Campbell, a Rule 5 Draft selection, retired eight of the final 10 batters he faced following the Webb triple but he needed 42 pitches to get out of the second inning and threw 73 pitches overall in three innings of work.
“The first was rough,” Mattingly said. “After that, he kind of hung in there. A lot of pitches for three innings.”
The Giants added a fourth run on a Brandon Belt sacrifice fly against Richard Bleier.
More Marlins takeaways
▪ The Marlins really need to figure out their fifth starting pitcher situation. Their top three in Sandy Alcantara, Pablo Lopez and Trevor Rogers have been solid (a collective 2.72 ERA with 95 strikeouts against 29 walks in 79 1/3 innings). Daniel Castano has held his own in two starts (3.60 ERA in 10 innings).
But their other options to this point have been a letdown. Nick Neidert posted a 6.75 ERA over his first three starts and was optioned Wednesday. Campbell, who hasn’t officially started a game but has been used twice out of the bullpen as a length pitcher, has an 8.22 ERA.
A reminder: Elieser Hernandez, Sixto Sanchez, Edward Cabrera and Jorge Guzman are all on the injured list. Hernandez, scheduled to throw a bullpen session this week, is the closest of the group to return but he still needs at least a couple weeks to build up innings.
With that said, the Marlins could potentially go without a fifth starter the rest of this road trip, which includes two three-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers (Monday through Wednesday) and the Washington Nationals (Friday through Sunday).
The Marlins’ other options until they return to Miami: Bringing back Neidert (which can only happen before May 6 if the Marlins make an IL move), giving Campbell another opportunity to throw multiple innings whether as a starter or the first guy out of the bullpen following an opener, selecting the contract of Shawn Morimando or giving Jordan Holloway as a spot starter. The club still views Holloway as a starter and have been making sure he’s ready to throw multiple innings.
They can also call up left-handed pitcher prospect Braxton Garrett after the road trip. He is at the team’s alternate training site in Jacksonville.
▪ Aguilar’s recent power surge is needed for a Marlins offense missing Brian Anderson, Starling Marte and Jorge Alfaro. Five of his nine hardest-hit balls to this point of the season — including all three of the home runs — have come over the past three days.
“It’s always good to have someone who’s homer hot,” outfielder Adam Duvall said. “For him to keep us in that ballgame and the one last night, he’s helped us fight back a couple games. That’s been huge.”
▪ Jon Berti has been solid at third base since Anderson went on the IL with a left oblique strain. He has started six consecutive games and made a handful of clutch plays defensively. Berti has also safely reached base in all six games, including hitting a game-tying home run in the seventh inning on Saturday.
“I’m feeling good,” Berti said Saturday. “I’m getting more comfortable each day. The more you’re out there, the better you’re going to feel. I’ve just been getting in my work at third base and staying prepared.”
▪ Duvall’s defense continues to impress.
So much so that Mattingly started him in center field on Sunday. It was Duvall’s first start there in his career.
The move was primarily made so that the Marlins could have Duvall, Garrett Cooper (right field) and Aguilar (first base) all in the starting lineup, but Mattingly was also confident in Duvall’s defensive abilities that he wouldn’t be a liability at the position.
“We’re having battles trying to put runs on the board,” Mattingly said. “That’s one of the possible solutions for that.”
Duvall’s approach playing in center field compared to the corners?
“Just to get the ball wherever it was,” Duvall said.
▪ Since hitting a leadoff home run on Friday, Chisholm has gone 0 for 12 with six strikeouts.
▪ The Marlins are now 2-4 in one-run games this year. Despite being three-games under .500, Miami has a plus-1 score differential (85 runs scored, 84 runs allowed). They’re the only team in the National League East with a positive run differential through Sunday’s set of games.
This story was originally published April 25, 2021 at 7:16 PM.
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