Dealing with more injuries, Marlins drop series opener to frontrunning Phillies

The Marlins opened a 10-game homestand on Friday with a flat 9-3 loss to the Phillies, and the pregame news was no better.

Third baseman Connor Norby was placed on the 10-day injured list — retroactive to Sept. 4 — with a left quad strain, just five games after returning from wrist surgery that sidelined him for seven weeks.

Norby said he felt the strain while rounding first base on his double Wednesday.

“Frustrated is not even the word I use — it’s more than that. If I can think of a word, I’ll tell you. It sucks,” Norby said. “You get hurt at the start of the year. You start off behind, come back and you’re fighting your way through, feel good.

“Start feeling like yourself after all the searching and then break your hand. Six weeks gone. You come back. Feel great. It’s the best you’ve felt all year and then you get a minor tweak.”

Norby wanted to play through the injury, but the team decided he shouldn’t.

“I might be frustrated about it, but I know what’s best for me,” he said. “I don’t want to risk further injury, obviously, but I’m going to be back before the end of the year.”

With Norby heading to the IL, the Marlins called up infielders Maximo Acosta and Jack Winkler from Triple-A Jacksonville.

“I think we saw his at-bats get better as he got some more starts under his belt,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said of Acosta. “So hopefully he comes back up here and just goes out and has high quality at-bats. And defensively, since the first time we saw him take ground balls, we’ve had a lot of confidence in the defensive ability that he has and the ability to play multiple positions.

“So unfortunate that Connor’s going to miss some time, but it’s great for Max to be able to come back up here and have some playing time opportunities provided for him.”

In other injury news, outfielder Derek Hill was placed on the 10-day IL, retroactive to Sept. 2, with a right hamstring strain.

Meanwhile, right-hander Janson Junk is scheduled to start on Monday, McCullough said. Junk has been on the 15-day IL since Aug. 24 with right ulnar nerve irritation.

Kyle Stowers (left oblique strain) began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Jacksonville on Friday. He’ll play the outfield for the Jumbo Shrimp on Saturday, return to Miami on Sunday, and is expected to be activated early next week, McCullough said.

Left-hander Ryan Weathers (left lat strain) should re-join the Marlins’ rotation the middle of next week, McCullough said. “Weathers looked great [his last rehab start], felt great was the most important thing,” McCullough noted.

The outlook for right-hander Edward Cabrera, on the 15-day IL with a right elbow sprain, remains uncertain. Additional evaluations, consultations, and second opinions are needed before a decision is made, McCullough noted.

Asked if Tommy John surgery is a possibility for Cabrera, McCullough said, “That I don’t want to speak to. I don’t know. It hasn’t been confirmed either way.”

Brian Navarreto hit his first career MLB home run — a two-run blast — in the eighth inning. It was Navarreto’s third career hit and his first since he last appeared in the majors in 2020.

“It was an amazing moment for me and my family as well,” Navarreto said. “It’s been a long road and I didn’t take it for granted. I just tried to enjoy the moment the most I can, and it happened. I was so happy, not only for me, but for my family.”

“That was certainly the highlight of the evening for us,” McCullough said. “Everyone was excited. To see the love his teammates showed him as he got into the dugout, the excitement he had. And rightly so. As cruel as this game can be sometimes, this reminds you why we all love it. The game has a way of honoring those that go about it the right way like Brian Navarreto.”

Reliever Valente Bellozo made his first start for the Marlins on Friday since May 13 and pitched three innings, allowing two runs on four hits, including singles to the first three batters he faced. He struck out two.

Left-hander Josh Simpson was recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville and delivered two scoreless innings of relief, allowing four hits and striking out three. It was his first outing since giving up seven runs in a third of an inning against the Braves on Aug. 26.

“It was great to see Josh be able to buckle down and get out of both of those innings without giving up any runs,” McCullough said. “Happy for him he was able to get through two clean.”

Xavier Edwards is getting the first two games of this series off. McCullough said he wanted to give his second baseman a chance to “reset things a little bit.”

Javier Sanoja’s RBI double in the third inning, which scored Victor Mesa Jr., ended his streak of eight games without an RBI.

Right-hander Luarbert Arias was designated for assignment.