Marlins drop series to Philly as second-half hitting woes continue. Takeaways from loss
After scoring nine runs in the final seven innings of a thrilling come-from-behind win Wednesday, the Miami Marlins couldn’t build on it Thursday.
As it has almost every other day since the 2023 MLB All-Star Game last month, Miami’s offense slumped and the Marlins dropped a crucial series to the Philadelphia Phillies with a 4-2 loss in Miami.
The Phillies took three of four from the Marlins (58-52) and now sit 1 1/2 games clear of their division rival in the wild-card race.
Philadelphia (59-50) is currently in the No. 2 wild-card position and temporarily moved within a game of the Giants with the win. Miami, at least for the moment, dropped out of postseason position with the loss, a half a game behind the Brewers.
The Braves are running away with the National League East, more than 10 games clear of everybody else in the division.
On Thursday, the Marlins fell behind early and could never claw back. Starting pitcher Johnny Cueto gave up a two-run home run to star catcher J.T. Realmuto in the top of the second inning and then cruised into the seventh, where he finally ran out of gas and exited after loading the bases with no outs. Miami never gave the right-handed pitcher any support, collecting only seven hits, as All-Star pitcher Michael Lorenzen, who was acquired by the Phillies from the Tigers ahead of the trade deadline Tuesday, gave up just two runs and five hits with five strikeouts in his Philadelphia debut in front of 16,709 at loanDepot park.
Here are three takeaways from the loss:
Miami Marlins’ offensive struggles continue
The Marlins have tumbled down the National League standings since the All-Star Game because their offense has disappeared.
Miami has now scored three runs or fewer in 10 of 18 games since the All-Star break and its 3.56 runs per game since the break were, at least for the moment, the fewest in the Majors.
Five Marlins had hits Thursday and three of their six hits came after they fell behind 4-1 in the top of the seventh inning.
Cueto did enough to give Miami a chance to win, giving up four earned runs in six innings. The Marlins, for the second straight game, instead dug themselves too big a hole and this time couldn’t rally in their one inning against the Phillies’ porous bullpen.
“We couldn’t get a hit with runners in scoring position. That’s kind of been the theme a little bit after the All-Star break,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “Once we get that big hit, I think you start putting crooked numbers up and feel good about guys on base a little bit more.”
There were two bright spots though: The new-look, heart-of-the-order combo of infielders Josh Bell and Jazz Chisholm Jr., and outfielder Bryan De La Cruz.
Bell, whom Miami acquired from the Indians ahead of the trade deadline Tuesday, drew a one-out walk in the bottom fo the fourth inning, then scored when Chisholm ripped an RBI double to center field to cut Philadelphia’s lead to 2-1. The superstar outfielder, who came off the injured list Monday after missing 60 of the previous 66 games with two separate injuries, also hit a lead-off single in the bottom of the ninth and is now riding an 11-game hitting streak, dating back to May.
De La Cruz, who dropped from the heart of the order down to No. 6 after Miami acquired Bell and third baseman Jake Burger ahead of the deadline earlier this week, hit a two-out double in the bottom of the second inning, then a solo home run in the seventh to trim the Phillies’ lead to 4-2.
There’s no concern yet about the offense’s struggles, at least from the first-year manager.
“Our lineup is much deeper with [outfielder Jesus] Sanchez and De La in the six-seven,” Schumaker said. “We have a much deeper lineup and I think you’ll see a lot more hits with runners in scoring position.”
Cueto gives Marlins important innings
Cueto left the ballpark a little bit early Wednesday. It meant he missed the end of the Marlins’ thrilling comeback, but he knew he had an important job to tackle early Thursday.
Miami’s bullpen chipped in seven innings in the 12-inning win. Cueto had to give the Marlins a good outing to get their bullpen back on track and he did.
The 37-year-old Dominican pitched into the seventh inning and had only given up two runs by the time he exited. Two more inherited runs scored after he left.
He would have liked to be better, of course. Ultimately, he did what he needed to do. Miami was still within striking distance in the final three innings and only had two use two relief pitchers.
“That was part of the idea there, try to go deep as I could,” Cueto said, through an interpreter.
The Marlins will need more outings like this one from Cueto if they’re going to regroup and make the 2023 MLB postseason. With starting pitchers Edward Cabrera and Eury Perez now both down in the minor leagues, Miami needs someone to give them quality innings in the final two months of the regular season.
Cueto is trending in the right direction. After only pitching one inning in the first three months of the season before getting hurt, the starter has gone at least six innings in three straight starts. His 3.86 ERA in four outings since returning from his injury is good enough to give the Marlins a chance to win.
“If he does that, we’ll be OK,” Schumaker said.
Marlins add help before trip
A little bit before midnight, Devin Smeltzer got word from Miami he would be needed Thursday. The pitcher barely got any sleep before waking up around 3 a.m. to catch a 5:40 a.m. flight in Tennessee.
After they optioned Cabrera to Triple A Jacksonville on Wednesday and then burned through eight pitchers to beat the Phillies in extra innings, the Marlins needed another arm and Smeltzer gave them exactly what they needed.
“I drank some extra cafecito today and got out there,” the left-handed pitcher said.
Smeltzer finished out the game by striking out five in two perfect innings. After using more than half a dozen pitchers Wednesday, Miami only had to use three Thursday.
The Marlins optioned relief pitcher Huascar Brazoban to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp to make room for Smeltzer, who came up from Jacksonville.
Miami needed a bullpen reset with a challenge series coming up this weekend with the Texas Rangers, especially with no starter announced for Saturday after the Marlins sent Cabrera to the minors and left an open spot in the rotation.
Miami opens the series with the Rangers on Friday at 8:05 p.m. at Globe Life Field in, with starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo on the mound. Star starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara will start the series finale Sunday in Arlington, Texas.
This story was originally published August 3, 2023 at 2:40 PM.
