Marlins bullpen falters against Rockies for 8th consecutive defeat. Takeaways from the loss
The Miami Marlins got the quality starting pitching and a few clutch hits on Saturday, giving themselves a chance to finally end their losing streak that has unfolded since returning from the All-Star Break.
And then came the collapse.
Miami gave up four unanswered runs over the final three innings to fall 4-3 to the Colorado Rockies at loanDepot park and extend their losing streak to a season-high eight games. The Marlins, who were 14 games over .500 at the All-Star Break, are now 53-47 on the season and remain the only team to not have a win since play resumed last Friday.
All four runs Colorado (39-59) scored came against Marlins relievers. Nolan Jones hit a game-tying three-run home run in the seventh against JT Chargois and Randal Grichuk hit a go-ahead single in the ninth against Tanner Scott.
Miami scored its three runs on a Joey Wendle RBI single in the second, a Luis Arraez RBI triple in the fifth and a Jorge Soler sacrifice fly in the fifth.
Here are three takeaways from the game.
Johnny Cueto’s stellar return to rotation spoiled
When right-handed pitcher Johnny Cueto returned to the Marlins following the All-Star Break and a lengthy stint on the injured list, his role was undefined outside of the fact that it would be as a reliever. It could have been middle innings or long relief, but the plan was for a soft landing.
He made one relief appearance, tossing three shutout innings against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday, before returning to the rotation.
And in his first game back as a starting pitcher, Cueto thrived. He pitched into the second inning, allowing just one run and only four batters to reach base (two singles, one walk, one hit by pitch) while striking out eight.
He induced 17 swings and misses, with almost all of it coming from his four-seam fastball (14 whiffs on 26 swings) that averaged 92.9 mph and topped out at 94.5 mph.
“My confidence is really high at the moment,” Cueto said. “I’m trusting every pitch. It was working pretty well. That’s what I was doing, trying to get hitters into strikeout counts and attacking.”
The one run charged to him scored after he was removed from the game. Cueto gave up a leadoff single in the seventh inning to Ryan McMahon before being taken out for Chargois, who gave up a pinch-hit single to Elias Diaz and the game-tying home run to Jones on an elevated slider.
Flipping roles
Marlins manager Skip Schumaker on Saturday flipped the roles for his two primary late-inning relievers, having normal closer A.J. Puk pitch the eighth inning and Scott pitch the ninth.
The manager said that was by design, given where the Rockies’ lineup was when those innings took place. Nine-hole hitter Austin Wynns led off the eighth inning, giving Puk him and the Nos. 1 and 2 hitters in Colorado’s lineup in Jurickson Profar and Ezequiel Tovar. Scott would then at a minimum face the heart of the Rockies’ order — McMahon, Diaz and Grichuk.
“Felt this series at least [the heart of the lineup] was better suited for Scott over Puk,” Schumaker said. “I talked to them about it a couple days ago and them them know that was the decision only if that pocket came up. Otherwise, Puke would have had the ninth.”
Can they stop the bleeding?
At eight consecutive losses, the Marlins now have the longest losing streak of any team this season that is in the playoff hunt. They desperately need to end this losing streak.
The next chance to do that is when wrap up their three-game series against the Rockies on Sunday, with first pitch set for 1:40 p.m. Jesus Luzardo (8-5, 3.34 ERA) will pitch for Miami, while Colorado’s starting pitcher is still to be determined.
After that, they make a short trip to St. Petersburg for two games against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday and Wednesday before another homestand against the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies.
This story was originally published July 22, 2023 at 4:45 PM.
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