Adam Mazur battles in Marlins debut, but Fish fall to Phillies 4–2

Miami is a long way from Minnesota.

But on Wednesday night at loanDepot park, starting pitcher Adam Mazur found a thread of home even in the middle of a 4–2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Making his Marlins debut, the 24-year-old right-hander took the mound for his ninth career MLB start, just after being recalled from Triple A Jacksonville earlier that day. And sitting in the clubhouse was someone who has known him far longer than most on the roster — fellow Marlins pitcher Max Meyer, his old teammate at Woodbury High School in Minnesota.

“I’ve watched him pitch throughout his whole life,” Meyer said before the game. “He knows you just go out and do your thing. If you try to be someone you’re not, it’s going to come back and hurt you.”

For the first three innings, Mazur looked composed. He scattered one walk and struck out three, holding the Phillies scoreless and giving the Marlins a clean slate to work with.

But in the fourth, things unraveled — fast.

It began with a single from Alec Bohm. Then came a wild pitch that allowed Nick Castellanos to cruise into scoring position on second base. Max Kepler drew a walk, and J.T. Realmuto followed with a sharp RBI single to bring Castellanos home.

The knockout punch, however, came off the bat of Bryson Stott, who launched a 396-foot three-run homer to center field, breaking the game open and putting the Phillies up 4–0.

The Marlins dugout stayed quiet during the chaos — no mound visit, no timeout, no moment to reset. And as the inning finally ended, the damage was done.

“I felt like I was getting a little bit out of rhythm and trying to rush it a little bit,” Mazur said about the inning after the game. “The arm was kind of staying behind a little bit and left some stuff up… I obviously want that one back, but overall, I’m happy with how I battled.”

After putting his head together with pitching coach Daniel Moskos in the dugout, Mazur “slowed down, talked it out” and returned for a portion of the fifth inning, notching another strikeout.

His final line: five hits, four runs, four walks and five strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings.

While a solid franchise debut from Mazur on the mound, minus an unfortunate bit of luck in the fourth inning, Miami just couldn’t respond at the plate, including some visible frustration that bubbled over in the bottom of the fourth. After grounding into a double play that erased himself and Eric Wagaman, Dane Myers ripped off his helmet just past first base and slammed it into the dirt.

Phillies starting pitcher Ranger Suarez, who possesses a 2.20 ERA and struck out eight during the game, has one of the most dynamic pitching strategies in the League and is “tough to square up” against, according to Manager Clayton McCullough.

“[Suarez] has been a good pitcher in this league now for a number of years, and we’re going to have to be very diligent and disciplined with trying to get him off the bottom of the zone [and] try to get the ball up as best we can,” McCullough said before Wednesday’s game.

Evidently, the diligence just wasn’t there for the Fish through most of the night — but a spark in the bottom of the ninth injected some long-overdue life into the lineup. Heriberto Hernandez led things off with a sharply hit double to left, Dane Myers followed with an RBI single to put another on the board for Miami, and Jack Winkler capped it off with his long-awaited first major league hit — a clean single to left

But for Mazur, Wednesday marked more than just a stat line. It was a return to the major-league mound, and this time in a new uniform, with a familiar face just down the bench.

“You know what? He gave us a chance to hang in that game, and overall, it was a good first start for Mazur with us this year,” McCullough said.

THIS AND THAT

• Myers returned to the field Wednesday night, batting sixth in the lineup and fielding at center field, after being hit in the elbow but a pitch Monday night.

• In the bottom of the fifth inning, Connor Norby hit a 415-foot homer — his fourth of the season.

• Winkler notched his first career hit in the bottom of the ninth inning, saying he plans on giving the ball to his parents or his brother: “It feels really good,” he said after the game. “[I’ve] just been waiting for that feeling for a couple weeks. [It’s] always [a relief], getting the first one out of the way.”

• Meyer is set to visit a specialist for his ongoing hip injury as he continues his rehabilitation.