Rogers' frustration mounts, Miami drops to 20 under

[Alex Krutchik]

Rogers' struggles continued as Miami dropped Friday's series-opener to Philadelphia.

Trevor Rogers was certainly hoping for a better outing than his last, giving up eight runs in 2 ⅓ innings against the Oakland Athletics last weekend. That bounce-back would not come on Friday night as Miami fell to Philadelphia 8-2. The 26-year-old lefty couldn’t get out of the fourth inning in Miami’s loss to Philadelphia as he allowed five runs (four earned), mostly to the bottom half of the Phillies lineup.

When Rogers returned to the dugout after being pulled, he slammed his glove and hat to the ground, and knocked over water cups on top of the Gatorade cooler.

"I think there should be a lot of pissed off people," Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. "Nobody wants to get their ass kicked every night... I think anger is good, at times, because it builds adrenaline, it means you care. I think if you're just going through the motions and checking boxes, it's just another game, so to speak, you're not made for this."

It was an uncharacteristic moment for the normally even-keeled Rogers. "We’re a good group of guys in there," Rogers said. "We’re all just pissed at how things are going so far. When we hit, we just can’t pitch. When we pitch, we just can’t hit. We just can’t put a nine-inning game together."

Nick Castellanos, mourning the passing of his dog, Tiger, cranked a solo home run to right center field to open the scoring in the second inning. Johan Rojas then drove home Edmundo Sosa with a single to center field.

Rogers danced around trouble in the third after allowing J.T. Realmuto and Bryce Harper to reach base to start the inning, thanks to a 6-4-3 double play and a lineout to third baseman Jake Burger, but he struggled again in the fourth. Rogers allowed the Phillies' 6-7-8 hitters in Whit Merrifield, Sosa, and Cristian Pache to reach base (although Merrifield reached on a Burger error). Pache’s double would score Merrifield to make it 3-0. Rogers then struck out Rojas, but when the lineup flipped back over, leadoff hitter Kyle Schwarber drilled a two-RBI single to make it 5-0 Philadelphia.

In all, Rogers allowed nine hits (three of which were doubles), two walks, and struck out three. He has now given up 17 hits in his last 5.2 IP.

"Me going out there and laying a goose egg like that didn’t help things," Rogers said. "I just gotta be better. That’s kind of what p***** me off the most. I can’t give my team a chance. That’s kind of where you saw the frustration there."

Meanwhile, the Marlins' offense had no answer for Phillies starting pitcher Ranger Suarez. Coming into Friday’s game with a 1.72 ERA in seven starts, Suarez pitched seven shutout innings and allowed just three hits and two walks and struck out nine. The only Marlins runs came in the eighth inning on a Josh Bell double to left field. Christian Bethancourt was the only Marlin with multiple hits on Friday, going 2-for-3 with a double. After starting the season 1-for-38 at the plate, he is on a modest three-game hitting streak, going 5-for-11 with two doubles in that span.

Miami fell to 20 games under .500 at 10-30. Coupled with a Colorado Rockies victory over the Texas Rangers on Friday, the Marlins once again hold MLB's worst record. Trevor Rogers suffered his sixth loss (0-6) while Suarez improved to 7-0. It has now been 393 days since Rogers has earned a win.

The Marlins will take on the Phillies on Saturday at 4:10 pm at loanDepot park. Jesús Luzardo is likely to return from his three-week IL stint to make the start. He will oppose RHP Taijuan Walker.

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[Leo Armbrister]

Rogers may not be the pitcher he was a couple of years ago. We have to be realistic and use the best talent in the organization. Why isn't Myers in Miami for example. Why did we send Roddery down. Even if the pitching is decent wedon't score enough runs to win many games. The team is not very good and the fault is Bendix and Sherman. I hope things get better but I am not sure I see anything that will change things.

[THOMAS JOSEPH]

It's frustrating, but it is important to consider how hot the Phillies are right now. On the other side, that doesn't seem to matter with the Marlins this year. Teams are confident playing the Marlins, and Marlins pitchers are seemingly waiting for their beating, it often seems. I'd like to see the Marlins' pitchers get mean, which is the perfect segue to Rogers' dugout remonstration. I loved it. 

[THOMAS JOSEPH]

23 hours ago, Leo Armbrister said:

Rogers may not be the pitcher he was a couple of years ago. We have to be realistic and use the best talent in the organization. Why isn't Myers in Miami for example. Why did we send Roddery down. Even if the pitching is decent wedon't score enough runs to win many games. The team is not very good and the fault is Bendix and Sherman. I hope things get better but I am not sure I see anything that will change things.

Broadly, I agree Bendix and Sherman have responsibility. Of course. Still, players play and must be responsible for their lack of ability or failure to execute. Mental errors, lack of situational hitting, nibbling/timid pitchers, and strategic in-game decisions cannot be divorced from the manager and coaching staff. Has Skip checked out? No, I figure he has the usual incentive for his next gig. He and his staff are not immune from criticism, though, and cannot hang their collective caps on last season's unicorn results, IMO.