Jesus Luzardo struggles as Marlins drop opener against Yankees. Takeaways from the loss
The Miami Marlins returned home on the heels of back-to-back comeback wins against the Cincinnati Reds to end an otherwise road trip to forget on a high note.
They couldn’t carry that momentum into their series opener against the New York Yankees.
The Marlins fell behind early and couldn’t recover in a 9-4 loss to the Yankees on Friday at loanDepot park.
The Marlins, who have yet to win more than two consecutive games in a row since returning from the All-Star Break, fall to 60-57. The Yankees improve to 60-56.
Here are three takeaways from the game.
Too much hard contact against Jesus Luzardo
Marlins left-handed pitcher Jesus Luzardo had his shortest outing of the season, giving up seven earned runs on nine hits — both single-game season highs — and a walk while striking out just two over just 3 1/3 innings.
“He’s frustrated,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said.
It’s a continuation of Luzardo’s overall struggles since the All-Star Break as his career-high innings pitched this season continue to climb.
Prior to this season, Luzardo had never thrown more than 100 1/3 innings in a season, doing so last year. He surpassed that mark before the All-Star Break, going 109 1/3 innings and posting a respectable 3.29 ERA with 129 strikeouts against 27 walks over 19 starts.
In five starts since the All-Star Break, however, Luzardo has pitched to a 6.66 ERA, giving up 18 earned runs over 24 1/3 innings. He has gone fewer than five innings in three of five starts and has given up six home runs in that span, compared to just 12 total home runs in his first 19 starts.
“I wish I knew” what was going wrong, Luzardo said. “I would change it right away. I’m looking. We’re trying as hard as we can. ... We’re in a wild card race. Not being able to come through for the team, I feel like that’s the most frustrating part, but we’re working in between bullpens trying to figure it out, trying to get that feel back.”
On Friday, Luzardo gave up two home runs — a three-run shot by Anthony Volpe in the second inning and a 464-foot blast from Aaron Judge in the third — to put Miami in an early 4-2 hole. Five of the Yankees’ nine hits, including both home runs, came against Luzardo’s four-seam fastball. Eight of New York’s 16 balls in play against Luzardo were hard-hit, defined as having an exit velocity of at least 95 mph.
“I was searching, for the most part, with all my pitches,” Luzardo said. “Probably not the best mechanics. Really out of whack.”
Right-handed pitcher George Soriano provided needed length after Luzardo’s early exit, throwing 3 2/3 shutout innings (although he allowed one of two runners inherited from Luzardo to score), including working around the bases loaded with one out in the fifth, to get Miami through the seventh inning using just two pitchers.
Jorge Lopez worked around a walk for a scoreless eighth inning, but the Yankees scored two more runs in the ninth against Steven Okert, who was hit in the calf by a Giancarlo Stanton line drive to begin the inning.
Newcomers spark rally attempts that come up short
Third baseman Jake Burger and first baseman Josh Bell, both of whom the Marlins acquired at the trade deadline, fueled the Marlins main scoring opportunities on Friday.
Burger hit a pair of RBI doubles in the second and fourth innings, while Bell hit a solo home run in the sixth inning.
The duo has quickly made its mark on Miami’s lineup.
In nine games, Bell is hitting .314 (11 for 35) with four home runs, two doubles, eight RBI and six runs scored. Burger, meanwhile, is hitting .242 (8 for 33) with four doubles, one home run, four RBI and three runs scored.
“We couldn’t get anything going other than those two guys,” Schumaker said.
Miami’s only other run on Friday came on a Jesus Sanchez RBI triple to right field in the second inning that scored Jazz Chisholm Jr., who led off the frame with a single.
Series-opening struggles
The Marlins have gone just 14-24 this season in the first game of a series. They have lost 11 of their past 14 series openers, including eight of nine since returning from the All-Star Break.
By comparison, Miami’s win-loss record this season at other points in series is as follows:
▪ 21-16 in the second game of a series.
▪ 22-14 in the third game of a series.
▪ 3-3 in the fourth game of a series.
The Marlins continue the three game series with a 4:10 p.m. start Saturday. Sandy Alcantara is on the mound for Miami.
This story was originally published August 11, 2023 at 9:22 PM.
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