Marlins extend shutout streak with win over Mets

[Kevin Barral]

After throwing back-to-back shutouts in Detroit to take the series, the Marlins held another opponent scoreless on Friday, led by Jesús Luzardo's seven-strikeout performance.

MIAMI, FL—On Friday, the Miami Marlins kicked off game one of a six-game homestand. The weekend series featured the division rival New York Mets. Jesús Luzardo, coming off an eight-strikeout performance against the Philadelphia Phillies, looked to repeat that again. Luzardo led the Marlins to their third straight win in shutout fashion by the final score of 8-0.

It's the third time in franchise history that the Marlins have shut out their opponents for three straight games. It was previously done in 2004 and 2005.

“I think it's super, super cool,” said Marlins catcher Nick Fortes who has been behind the plate the last couple of games. “I think that's kind of a very unique accomplishment accomplishment I would say so. It's something I take a lot of a lot of pride in. It's not just me. It's a testament to these pitchers who have been putting so much work in. It's really really cool to see.”

If the Marlins shut out the Mets on Saturday afternoon, the 2024 Marlins would become the first team in franchise history to shut out an opponent four straight times.

Luzardo was coming off his best start of the season, but had been on a pitch limit after spending time on the injured list. On Friday, he got a longer leash (89 pitches) and completed six innings for the second time this season. Everything clicked for the Marlins starting pitcher. As impressive as Luzardo's seven strikeouts were, Friday's game also marked the first time this season that he didn't allow a walk.

“I think the fastball in up to righties really opened up the change,” said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker following the game. “The changeup was his pitch tonight. It was super effective. His slider is usually his pitch, but when he doesn't, not that he didn't have it, but the changeup was just the pitch to go to tonight.”

Going with his usual fastball/slider combo worked. He generated 14 whiffs and six of his seven strikeouts were swinging. Luzardo mixed the four-seamer and slider well, using the four-seam 34% of the time while using the slider 35% of the time. Although he used those pitches the most, the changeup accounted for nine of the 14 whiffs.

“I lean on it a little bit,” said Luzardo when talking about his changeup. "Not as much as I did tonight. I felt like it was basically my go-to pitch and it got me out of a lot of bad counts and jams.”

Christian Scott, a Top 30 prospect in the New York Mets system according to MLB Pipeline, had been dominant through two starts. In his debut against the Rays, he went 6 ⅔ innings of one-run ball, striking out six. Against the Atlanta Braves, he struck out eight through six innings of work.

On Friday, the Marlins got to Scott early in the second inning. Otto Lopez kicked off the scoring with a sac fly, driving in Jesús Sánchez to give Miami an early 1-0 lead.

Production from Marlins catchers this season has been nothing short of disappointing. Any sort of offensive impact from the catching position is a plus. With runners on first and second with two outs, Nick Fortes took Scott deep for a three-run shot to extend the Miami lead to 4-0.

Entering Friday’s game, Fortes had been slashing .127/.159/.190/.348 with one home run and five RBIs. Fortes has noted the struggles and knows that there’s room for improvement. 

“It’s tough because I know that there's so much more in there for me,” said Fortes. “I know I can do a lot better. It's been frustrating, but I've definitely been putting the work in and I think I'm starting to finally get to a point where I feel a little bit more comfortable. Hopefully, I can continue to ride that a little bit, but I'm just trying to keep my focus on our pitchers which is what Skip has told me is the most important thing.”

The Marlins went on to score three more runs. Vidal Bruján scored on a wild pitch, Bryan De La Cruz drove in a run on a sac fly, Josh Bell grounded into a fielder's choice, but the runner on third scored and Jake Burger drove in his first run since returning from the IL. The Marlins took a commanding 8-0 lead that they never looked back from.

With the win, the Marlins move to 14-32 on the season while the Mets fall to 20-24. On Saturday, Braxton Garrett will take the mound for the Marlins making his second start of the season while Luis Severino will take the mound for New York. First pitch will be at 4:10 pm.

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