Trevor Rogers takes step back against Brewers

[Kevin Barral]

After a strong start against the Detroit Tigers, Trevor Rogers struggled on Tuesday night. A sixth-inning rally wasn't enough as former Marlin Christian Yelich had a game-winning, two-run triple to even up the series for the Brewers.

MIAMI, FL—For Trevor Rogers, Tuesday's start against the Milwaukee Brewers was an opportunity to take another step forward and help the Miami Marlins secure a series win. However, Rogers struggled with his control throughout the start did not factor into the decision. The Marlins ended up taking the lead in the bottom of the sixth, but their bullpen couldn't come through. The Brewers defeated the Marlins by a final score of 7-5.

Rogers went only 3 ⅔ innings, gave up four runs off of six hits and four walks. He also struck out four. After initially showing higher velocity than usual, topping out at 94.8 mph in the first inning, his four-seam fastball averaged 92.6 mph overall vs. the Brew Crew. "I've been putting in a lot of work," said Rogers when it came to the increase in velocity. "Working on a small things and just trying to get back and working on so much, kind of getting out of my normal routine, but it's a necessity as far as me getting back to where I need to be. It's a long process and two weeks into this whole new routine. No excuse, gotta put the ball over the plate and give this team a chance."

Walks were the main issue for the 26-year-old. Rogers walked the lead-off hitter in each of the first three innings and two of them ended up scoring, putting the Marlins behind early 2-0. A William Contreras double drove in Andruw Monasterio in the top of the first and in the top of the second, a Blake Perkins RBI single drove in Gary Sanchez.

Rogers made a pitch usage adjustment, using his changeup only 6.7% of the time on Tuesday, the lowest rate of his MLB career. In his previous starts this season, opponents were hitting .323 off the changeup with a 91.0 mph average exit velo. The slider, which is his least-used pitch on average so far in 2024, had the highest usage against Milwaukee (35.6%).

"Thought I was landing it pretty well back door," said Rogers on the slider. "(Home plate umpire Roberto Ortiz) missed a couple of calls, but that's gonna happen. Had a good swing-and-miss. It was more horizontal [movement] than I wanted it. That's a quicker fix to get depth back to that pitch, so in a good spot with that."

Otto Lopez continued his success at the Major League level Tuesday night. In the bottom of the second inning, facing Brewers rookie Robert Gasser, Lopez drove in Jazz Chisholm Jr. on an RBI single to put the Marlins on the board. Lopez, who is a rather quick player, laid down a sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the sixth inning with runners on first and second. Chisholm, the runner on second, was able to take advantage of the throw to first on the bunt and scored from second. Chisholm's sprint speed on the play was 30.9 feet per second. That put the Marlins down one run.

"Pretty electric place and good baseball play from Jazz," said Skip Schumaker. "I'm not sure how many people can run the bases like that. Really impressive instincts. Not a lot of people can do what he did."

Chisholm shared his insight on the play following the game: "As soon as I saw the catcher field the ball, he was pretty far from home plate and then the momentum was still going away from the plate. Just used my speed to give us some runs and get a rally going."

Along with the impressive baserunning, Chisholm notched another multi-hit game and scored two runs. Particularly since the Luis Arraez trade, he's been one of the Marlins' hottest hitters.

"I called my grandpa, Franklin Stubbs," said Chisholm. "He's my baseball grandpa. So I called him and I was like, 'Man, I feel like I'm not hitting the ball the right way.' He's like, 'Yeah, you're not. Just go watch your old videos from when you were in high school. Go watch your first time coming into pro ball get back to that swing because that's the Jazz Chisholm I know.' I feel like I got back into that. Swinging down to the ball instead of trying to hit everything out of the park. Just trying to get hits and let the homers come."

Marlins third baseman Emmanuel Rivera posted his third multi-hit game of the season. His last came on May 1 against the Colorado Rockies. Rivera's first hit of the night was a double, but his biggest hit of the game would be in the bottom of the sixth to drive in Tim Anderson on an RBI single to tie the game at four apiece. A Dane Myers sac fly drove in Rivera, who was moved up on a Christian Bethancourt base hit.

The Marlins took a 5-4 lead during that rally, but it ended up not being enough.

Since returning from the IL and going back to a bullpen role, A.J. Puk hadn't allowed a hit nor a run. Jake Bauers led off the eighth inning with a double against him. Even so, Puk was one out away from stranding Bauers on third and preserving the lead. Milwaukee's most productive hitter this season, William Contreras, worked a 3-2 count and walked to extend the inning. Puk got a more favorable lefty-lefty matchup, but it was against Christian Yelich. The 2018 NL MVP smacked a triple, driving in two runs. Puk then gave up a double to Willy Adames that drove in a third run.

"I missed my first-pitch slider," said Puk recalling the Yelich pitch sequence, "and then went with a sinker in, hit it into the dugout. Did the same thing, hit it on the black and made a good adjustment. [He] put the ball in play and got me good." The triple had an exit velo of 111.0 mph, the hardest hit for either team on Tuesday.

With the loss, the Marlins drop to 16-34 on the season while the Brewers move to 28-20. The rubber match will be a battle of aces. Jesús Luzardo will go up against Freddy Peralta. First pitch is at 6:40 pm.

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[THOMAS JOSEPH]

It looked as if there was another nice comeback win in the making. Rivera had several very nice defensive plays. Chisholm's scoring play is impressive, for sure, but he was lollygagging a misplayed grounder to second earlier in the game that could have easily been turned into an out. The team seems to have retained confidence game-to-game. There's no pressure now that the insurmountable hole is dug. Some players thrive in that atmosphere, which is a valuable evaluative part of a losing season. I favor playing the young talent, although I understand most of the current mechanism is showcasing for other teams and determining the trade playbook. Lastly, regarding Rogers, it is difficult to see where he fits in long-term. Once the other starters return, he's made himself entirely replaceable.