Miami blows lead after Trevor Rogers’ solid, short outing and drop to 15 games below .500
Trevor Rogers watched from the dugout as his Miami Marlins finally, after five lifeless innings Tuesday and their worst loss of the season Monday, jumped ahead of the Washington Nationals and tied the starting pitcher to a lead. Adam Duvall cranked a three-run home run off Paolo Espino in the top of the sixth and the Marlins took the lead for the first time in the series, all while relief pitchers started to stir in Miami’s bullpen.
Rogers had thrown only 78 pitches in his first start since appearing in the 2021 MLB All-Star Game on Wednesday, but he was on an 85-pitch limit, Don Mattingly said, and stayed behind when the Marlins took the field for the bottom of the sixth. Richard Bleier jogged out of the bullpen, threw his warm-up pitches and then served up the decisive runs in Miami’s 6-3 loss to the Nationals in Washington.
“I felt great. It’s every time out: Whether I’ve given up a few runs or given up zero, I want to go nine and I think Donnie knows that, but Donnie’s the manager,” Rogers said. “I respect his decision whenever he decides my night’s over. I don’t always like it, but he’s the manager and I respect his decision.”
Bleier gave up a double to Nationals catcher Tres Barrera and coughed up a game-tying bloop single to outfielder Yadiel Hernandez with two outs. He hit Washington middle infielder Alcides Escobar with a pitch, then fumed and got ejected while the 17,362 at Nationals Park booed. Fellow relief pitcher Anthony Bender came in and didn’t fare much better, giving up back-to-back hits to All-Stars Trea Turner and Juan Soto before finally escaping on a hard-hit flyout by Washington corner infielder Ryan Zimmerman.
With Rogers on a pitch count, the bullpen couldn’t hang on and the Marlins (40-55) lost for the fifth time in six games since the All-Star break.
Miami is now 15 games below .500 for the first time all season and more than 10 games out of first place in the National League East with 10 days until the trade deadline, and won’t even have Sandy Alcantara to give the ball to Wednesday. The Marlins placed the starting pitcher on the bereavement list Monday, leaving them with only one pitcher left from its projected starting rotation in the preseason.
Rogers, 23, is the last man standing. Sixto Sanchez hasn’t pitched all year because year because of a shoulder injury and won’t pitch at all in 2021. Pitcher Elieser Hernandez has made two starts this season because of a pair of injuries and has been out since June with a severe quadriceps strain. Starting pitcher Pablo Lopez, one third of Miami’s so-called “Big 3,” landed on the 10-day IL with a right rotator cuff strain Saturday, and Alcantara, another third, left the team Tuesday and will have to remain out for at least three days.
Rogers is the unlikely piece of the “Big 3.” He looked more like a No. 5 starter at the beginning of the season and was only the second most heralded rookie on the staff, behind Sanchez. Instead, he posted a 2.31 ERA in the first half, emerged as a frontrunner for an MLB Rookie of the Year Award, got invited to the MLB All-Star Game and became, at worst, one of three de facto co-aces.
His last four starts before the break, though, made up the worst stretch of his season. He gave up nine earned runs in 19 2/3 innings and his ERA swelled from 1.87 to 2.31. He got 10 days off between starts — although he did pitch an inning in the All-Star Game on Wednesday — and hoped to come out of the break reinvigorated.
For five innings, he gave Miami a chance. He worked around a two-out walk by Soto in the first and limited the damage to one run in the second after a leadoff double by Nationals utility man Josh Harrison. He worked around another two-out walk by Soto in the third and survived a two-out double by Barrera in the fourth before giving up another run in the fifth, then exiting. He mixed his three pitches well — throwing fastball, changeup and slider each at least 20 percent of the time — and scattered five hits and three walks with three strikeouts to leave with the lead.
“I thought he was good tonight. He just missed some spots there,” Mattingly said. “Obviously, the league knows him a little, they don’t want him to get to that changeup, so they’re going to try to attack him early.”
Said Rogers: “The slider has been a work in progress for a really long time and I finally have a really good feel for it. ... I really mixed in my slider today.”
He threw his fewest pitches since May, though, and Washington (45-49) pounced on the bullpen. Bleier (2-1) gave up three earned runs and every other relief pitcher Miami used gave up at least one baserunner. The Marlins had two hits in their three-run six and only four the rest of the game.
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Alcantara leaves on bereavement list
Alcantara will miss his previously scheduled start Wednesday after going on the bereavement list Tuesday.
The Marlins did not specify why Alcantara is away from the team out of respect for the right-handed pitcher’s privacy. He will miss a minimum of three days and can stay on the list for a maximum of seven, according to MLB rules.
Alcantara’s absence has Miami down to just one starting pitcher left from its projected preseason rotation.
While the Marlins sit firmly in the National League East cellar, Alcantara, Rogers and Lopez have formed one of the Majors’ best top threes, with each posting an ERA better than 3.25. Alcantara, 25, currently brings up the rear at 3.23, but has pitched the third most innings in the NL this year and leads the Majors with 20 starts. Lopez has a 3.03 ERA and Rogers now sits at 2.37 after giving up two runs in five innings Tuesday.
With Alcantara out, Miami called up relief pitcher Luis Madero from Triple A Jacksonville. The Marlins moved middle infielder Jose Devers to the 60-day IL to make room for Madero on the 40-man roster.
Miami did not immediately announce a replacement for Alcantara on Wednesday.
No matter what, it’s another major blow for Miami as it tumbles further and further out of the postseason hunt. The Marlins dropped four of their first five games after the All-Star break and list five major contributors in the first five days since the break.
On Friday, the Marlins placed rookie outfielder Jesus Sanchez on the COVID-related IL. On Saturday, they put Lopez on the IL with his shoulder injury. Miami lost both Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Garrett Cooper to left arm injuries Sunday, and placed both on the 10-day IL on Monday. On Tuesday, Alcantara left the team because of a personal matter, leaving the Marlins in an increasingly precarious situation as the July 30 trade deadline nears.
With Hernandez and Sanchez both sidelined, Miami was already typically piecing together at least one bullpen game per turn through the rotation. Now the Marlins will have to figure out another way to replace a former All-Star.
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Up next
Miami will have to work quickly to come up with a replacement for Alcantara on Wednesday after the starter left the team Tuesday for personal reasons. The Marlins will wrap up their three-game against the Nationals at 7:05 p.m.
Washington starting pitcher Erick Fedde will be on the mound for the Nationals. Mattingly said the team will call up a pitcher prior to the series finale Wednesday, but wouldn’t say whom.
This story was originally published July 20, 2021 at 5:46 PM.
