Rays continue Citrus Series dominance, sweep Marlins

[Nate Karzmer]

Wednesday night's 5-3 loss gives the Marlins a near-unfathomable 3-23 record against their in-state rival since 2019.

MIAMI, FL—The two-game Citrus Series finale between the visiting Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins on Wednesday night generated more pregame buzz than your usual midweek contest at loanDepot park, thanks to actors Will Smith and Martin Lawrence making an appearance just minutes before the 6:40 start time, with the latter throwing out the first pitch while promoting their new film "Bad Boys: Ride or Die". The entertainment and excitement boiled into the first inning, as both teams combined for five runs off of three extra-base hits. Unfortunately for Miami, they only could tack on one more run the rest of the contest while Tampa Bay added two insurance runs. Their bullpen locked down a 5-3 victory and sweep.

Braxton Garrett, making his fifth start of the season, toed the slab for Miami. The Alabama native was coming off back-to-back dazzling starts in Arizona and San Diego where he allowed just one earned run over 14 innings of work.

As hinted at in the introduction, his success did not continue against Tampa Bay, a lineup that was struggling to put up runs coming into their series in South Florida. After getting Yandy Díaz to ground out, the rest of the Rays lineup begun to see the young lefty quite well, ripping two doubles and a single that was misplayed by Marlins outfielder Jesús Sánchez, leading to an early 3-0 deficit for Garrett and Co.

Fortunately for Garrett, the Marlins would pick up their starter in the bottom half of the inning. Josh Bell, Otto Lopez and Jesús Sánchez, who doubled to the left-center field gap and continues to hit the ball hard and look much-improved at the plate, all contributed to close the gap to 3-2.

Garrett had a clean second frame, but ran into more trouble in the third, with the Rays tacking on two more extra-base hits and runs before Marlins manager Skip Schumaker saw enough out of his starter, calling on Declan Cronin, subsequently ending Garrett's night with just 2 ⅔ innings pitched. That was his shortest start of the season.

"He didn't have many first-pitch strikes and that's just unlike him," Schumaker said after the game. "He's usually commanding all four quadrants and just didn't feel like he had the feel for any real pitch." Garrett only collected nine whiffs all night.

 

On the bright side for the Fish, Cronin, A.J. Puk, Anthony Bender, Andrew Nardi and Calvin Faucher all excelled in relief, allowing eight hits over 6 ⅓ innings of work. The Marlins 'pen came into Wednesday night's game with a sneaky good 3.52 ERA in their last ten contests and continue to show improvement as a unit.

Although the solid pitching gave the Marlins a chance to tie or even take the lead throughout the game, their offense could not build upon their first-inning rally against Zach Eflin. Fresh off the IL, Eflin retired the last 10 batters he faced before exiting.

The Marlins got runners into scoring position in both the fifth and the eighth innings, but could only push across one run courtesy of a Josh Bell single in the aforementioned fifth. Bell continues to stay hot for Miami, and with his RBI single, he extended his hitting streak to eight games, matching the longest such streak he's had as a Marlin. Pete Fairbanks successfully shut things down for Tampa Bay in the ninth, securing a 5-3 win and series sweep while collecting his eighth save of 2024 with a dominant 1-2-3 inning.

Miami is back in action this Friday at loanDepot park against the American League Central-leading Cleveland Guardians. Ryan Weathers takes the ball for the Marlins while Logan Allen gets the nod for Cleveland. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10.

View full article

[THOMAS JOSEPH]

As we fans are wont to do (and as a segue to Ely's "decisions made with everyone watching" question to Skip), I must question hitting Rivera for Sanchez.  The bloop single notwithstanding, aren't we removing the tying home run possibility almost entirely without Sanchez, even with the conventional wisdom?  I know there is the dichotomy of trying to win every game versus individual player growth/maturity. Still, if the Marlins believe Sanchez is developing (and plan to keep him for that deep potential), when are the in-game situational decisions going to reflect that mindset? If Skip and the team strategy for Sanchez aren't going to be manifested in a season like this one, when then?

[Ely Sussman]

6 hours ago, THOMAS JOSEPH said:

As we fans are wont to do (and as a segue to Ely's "decisions made with everyone watching" question to Skip), I must question hitting Rivera for Sanchez.  The bloop single notwithstanding, aren't we removing the tying home run possibility almost entirely without Sanchez, even with the conventional wisdom?  I know there is the dichotomy of trying to win every game versus individual player growth/maturity. Still, if the Marlins believe Sanchez is developing (and plan to keep him for that deep potential), when are the in-game situational decisions going to reflect that mindset? If Skip and the team strategy for Sanchez aren't going to be manifested in a season like this one, when then?

Several of us had the same objection last night while watching the game. All players on the roster ought to get some usage, especially in situations that play to their strengths. But even with the platoon advantage, Rivera is not a threat to blast a home run. Would've much rather seen Sánchez hit instead for the reasons you cited.

[THOMAS JOSEPH]

On 6/6/2024 at 2:15 PM, Ely Sussman said:

Several of us had the same objection last night while watching the game. All players on the roster ought to get some usage, especially in situations that play to their strengths. But even with the platoon advantage, Rivera is not a threat to blast a home run. Would've much rather seen Sánchez hit instead for the reasons you cited.

For sure. That move produced a favorable outcome for Rivera, yet the overall thought process was misguided. I think that decision-making regarding Sanchez is incongruent with both the stated team assessment of the player coming into his own and matching player skills to the situation. Generally, forego the platoon - especially amidst the backdrop of this season. Now that Garcia is gone, a regular DLC-Chisholm-Sanchez outfield makes sense until the trade decision for Chisholm is determined. Myers is an adequate outfielder to replace him, for off days/minor injuries, along with Gordon.