Pablo Lopez struggles against Braves as Marlins close strong homestand with loss
Atlanta Braves batter after Atlanta Braves batter came to the plate in the first inning, nine in total, before Pablo Lopez could retire the side.
Lopez threw 39 pitches in the frame and gave up three runs to put the Miami Marlins in a bind. Even with a couple rally attempts, the Marlins wouldn’t recover in a 6-4 loss to the Braves at loanDepot park to close out a six-game homestand.
Miami (29-36), however, won the first two games against Atlanta (30-33) and went 4-2 on the homestand overall to rebound from the team’s 1-8 road trip that preceded this week back in South Florida.
Lopez, who threw a career-best eight inning on Tuesday against the Colorado Rockies his last time on the mound to start the homestand, lasted just three innings on Sunday. That’s tied for the shortest start of his MLB career. The 25-year-old righty gave up four earned runs on six hits, two walks and a hit by pitch while striking out two. He needed 84 pitches to record nine outs.
“It’s very frustrating,” Lopez said of his short start, one that bumped his season ERA from 2.76 to 3.12. “You try to prepare so well. You try to do everything to just go out there and show up, help the team out. Just being able to go three innings — especially with that many pitches — that limited how much I could help and contribute.”
It was Lopez’s latest poor outing against the Braves. In 10 career starts against Atlanta, Lopez is 2-5 with a 5.66 ERA (30 earned runs in 47 2/3 innings). That includes giving up 10 earned runs in seven innings over his two outings against the Braves so far this season.
On Sunday, most of the damage was done in that rough first inning.
The breakdown:
▪ Ronald Acuna Jr. leads off the game with a single and Freddie Freeman follows with a double to instantly put runners on second and third base.
▪ Ozzie Albies pops out to shortstop Jazz Chisholm Jr. for the first out before Lopez walks Abraham Almonte on a full count to load the bases.
▪ Austin Riley breaks the game open with a two-strike single to shallow center field that scores Acuna and Freeman and gives the Braves a 2-0 lead.
▪ Another full-count walk, this time to Ehire Adrianza, once again loads the bases before Lopez strikes out Kevan Smith for the second out.
▪ Atlanta gets its final run of the opening frame when Lopez hits Guillermo Heredia with a pitch. Braves pitcher Drew Smyly grounded out to second base to end the inning.
Of the nine batters Lopez faced in that first inning, four of six who reached base had two-strike counts.
“That first inning,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said, “obviously is a lot. He didn’t seem to get that out when he needed it, had som eguys with two strikes and just wasn’t able to put them away.”
Lopez also gave up a solo home run to Riley in the third and the bullpen gave up runs in the fifth (Smith RBI single that scored Riley) and sixth (Ender Inciarte solo home run).
The Marlins scored two runs apiece in the fifth and seventh innings with Starling Marte fueling the rally attempts. He broke up the shutout in the fifth with an RBI single that scored Jon Berti and then scored on a wild pitch. Marte then drove in two more runs with another single in the seventh.
They missed another chance to score in the third. Miami had runners on first and second with no outs after Jon Berti singled and Isan Diaz drew a walk but Chisholm, Marte and Jesus Aguilar all struck out swinging to strand the two.
“We were able to hang in,” Mattingly said. “You think about it. Pablo gives you three and you think you’re in trouble, but with the help of Starling and our bullpen, we hung in there and at least kept us in the game. That game could have gotten out of hand. We were able to scratch for a couple runs, give ourselves a chance. Just needed a couple more.”
It put a somber end to an otherwise successful homestand. Miami took two of three games against both the Rockies and Braves and outscored the two opponents by a combined 32-21. It was a needed stretch, considering the Marlins lost eight of nine on the previous road trip.
“Any time you do a road trip like that, it’s not so much fun,” reliever Dylan Floro said. “It makes games long and wears you out but we came home and responded well so far. Everyone’s just doing their part. ... We’re playing good baseball right now, which is fun to watch.”
Next up
The Marlins are back on the road next week, playing six games against NL Central teams. First up is a three-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals Monday through Wednesday before playing three with the Chicago Cubs from Friday through Sunday.
This story was originally published June 13, 2021 at 4:56 PM.
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