‘This trip has been a nightmare for us.’ Marlins’ losing streak extends to seven games
The Miami Marlins’ goal last road trip, in the words of manager Don Mattingly, was to tread water. They had key players coming back from injury and were still in a decent spot when it came to competing in the National League East.
This road trip? There’s no treading water. Only trying to find a win that still hasn’t surfaced.
“This trip has been a nightmare for us,” Mattingly said bluntly.
The latest loss on this week-long downward slide: A 9-2 defeat at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. It’s Miami’s seventh consecutive loss, one that drops their record to 24-32 and puts them in last place in the division. After being one game out of the division lead as recently as May 24, the Marlins are now eight games under .500 and six games back of the first-place New York Mets.
Miami has been outscored 36-16 since the losing streak began. They have scored three runs or fewer in six of the seven games and lost on a walk-off in the other. They are hitting .125 (6 for 48) with runners in scoring position.
“Obviously, we’re not coming through,” Mattingly said. “We had a number of chances. ... Guys want to come through and get us off this slide. They want to get out of it. I do think guys are putting extra pressure on themselves, and it’s been negative.”
That run of poor situational hitting continued on Friday, with Marlins hitters going 1 for 11 with runners on second or third base. The lone hit came from 21-year-old second baseman Jose Devers, whose two-run double in the second accounted for all of the Marlins’ offense on the night.
Devers, batting leadoff for the first time in his MLB career, went 2 for 4 with a pair of doubles but also had a weakly hit ground ball in the fourth inning when there were runners on second and third with one out that spoiled one of the Marlins’ scoring opportunities.
“You see both ends of the spectrum,” Mattingly said of Devers, the organization’s No. 8 overall prospect according to MLB Pipeline. “We think he’s going to be a good player. He showed you signs of that tonight.”
Devers added: “I don’t care if I’m the first batter or eighth. All I think when I have that bat in my hand is to help the team. ... That’s what I’m going to continue to do.”
And then there’s the ever-continuous instability in the starting rotation. The Marlins on Thursday, more than two months into the season, had five starting pitchers on their active roster for the first time in 2021.
Elieser Hernandez, who missed two months with a right biceps injury, lasted five innings in his return on Thursday before straining his right quad running from third to home. Cody Poteet, who has impressed through his first four starts while he held down one of the back-end spots, left Friday’s game in the third inning with a right MCL sprain.
Hernandez is back on the IL. Poteet is set to join him, setting up the carousel of Triple A pitchers to round out the rotation behind Sandy Alcantara, Pablo Lopez and Trevor Rogers — a trio that has combined for a 2.81 ERA with 205 strikeouts over 195 2/3 innings and has had a combined five starts (out of 34 total) in which one of them has given up more than three earned runs.
“It’s been a punch in the gut,” Mattingly said of the injuries.
Their spot in the divisional standings — and, Mattingly admitted, team morale — has taken a hit, too.
The manager is trying to be rational about things. The Marlins are not where they want to be after 56 games, but with 106 games left and the Marlins “still in view” of the Mets at the top of the NL East, Mattingly doesn’t want to sound the alarm just yet.
A central message in team meetings: “There is a momentum turn at some point. Obviously sooner would be better than later. ... We just have to keep our heads up and keep going.”
“You better learn to put things behind you,” Mattingly added. “It’s the tough part. You can’t let four, five, six bad games affect the next 20. ... It sounds simple. It’s not that easy.”
Friday was another one of those nights they will have to put behind them, just like every other game on this road trip to this point.
This story was originally published June 4, 2021 at 11:47 PM.
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