Marlins' defensive woes cause statement move from manager

[Kevin Barral]

As the Marlins dropped their seventh straight game and to 6-24 on the season, outfielder Jesús Sánchez made a lackluster play in the outfield, costing a run and resulting in a teammate's injury.

MIAMI, FL - On Monday night, the Miami Marlins looked to avoid their first four-game series sweep of the season, but were unsuccessful. Starting pitcher Trevor Rogers gave up three runs and despite a Jazz Chisholm Jr. two-run homer, the Marlins bullpen gave up four runs in the top of the seventh inning which helped Washington Nationals defeat the Miami Marlins by a final score of 7-2.

On their way to losing a seventh straight game, Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker made a statement move by removing Marlins outfielder Jesus Sanchez from the game after the Dominican outfielder made a costly lackluster play. The right-fielder attempted to cut a ball off in the gap and once he retrieved it, Sanchez back-pedaled five times, allowing Alex Call to reach second with ease. Sanchez's throw was delayed and Tim Anderson ended up suffering a mild left thumb sprain on the slide from Call and was removed from the game. Following Sanchez's mistake, starting pitcher Trevor Rogers surrendered a two-run homer to CJ Abrams.

"I have literally no rules except for giving me everything you have," said Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker following the game. "He lost the ball in the lights. I've lost the ball in the lights many times. I felt like the effort wasn't there, so I decided to remove him from the game."

Sanchez then spoke on the issue and he accepted his mistake and knew that he deserved to be removed from the game. "I didn't get upset," said Sanchez when asked if he was upset when he was taken out. "I took myself out of the game. That's something I have to understand and he made that decision."

Prior to the game, Schumaker mentioned that he would like to see Trevor Rogers complete six innings. On Monday night, Rogers was only able to complete and allowed three runs on four hits and three walks. Rogers also struck out three.

The home run that Rogers gave was on a 2-0 count where the Marlins starter went with a middle-middle fastball. CJ Abrams took Rogers deep to right field for his seventh home run of the season, giving Washington a 2-0 lead. The final run Rogers surrendered came in the fifth when he walked Jesse Winker with the bases loaded. 

Rogers' biggest frustration is not being able to go deep into games, something he made clear during his postgame press conference. "The only thing is that I can't go deep into ballgames," said Rogers. "I am really pissed off right now and I'm not happy with it." The last time Rogers completed six innings was on April 14, 2023 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Schumaker added. "I thought he was good. I think he'll tell you a couple of walks hurt him. I put one of the guys on obviously in Senzel to get to Winker, but other than that, I thought there was some soft contact. Thought he pitched well, overall. Think the fifth inning just caught up to him a little bit."

The Marlins offense, despite being limited to four hits, made the game interesting in the bottom of the sixth inning. Vidal Brujan, who pinch hit for Sánchez, got a base hit and Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit his fourth home run of the season, making it a 3-2 ballgame. d

The Nationals blew the game out of reach for the Marlins in the top of the seventh inning, though. Calvin Faucher, who struggled on Friday, made his first appearance since then and struggled once again, unable to find the zone and gave up a hit. He was taken out in place of Andrew Nardi, who along with Faucher, gave up a total of four runs, with only one of them being being earned.

With the loss, the Miami Marlins have lost their first four-game series against the Washington Nationals since 2014, lost their first series against the Nats since April 30-May 2 of 2021 and first time they lose a series against Washington in Miami since June 25-27 of 2019. The Marlins are now losers of seven straight, holding a 6-24 record.

On Tuesday, the Marlins kick-off a three-game set against the Colorado Rockies. Sixto Sánchez will take the mound in game one at 6:40pm. The Rockies will counter with right-hander Ryan Feltner. 

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