Key blasts, strong 'pen give Miami Game 3 win

[Louis Addeo-Weiss]

Jazz and Burger homer while four Marlins relievers silence Mets offense.

Trevor Rogers failed to make it through five innings while his batterymate, Nick Fortes, made three errors. Fortunately, Jazz Chisholm Jr. had another case of the Sunday's while the bullpen in relief of Rogers held down the fort as the Miami Marlins took the third game of their series against the Mets, 4-2.

 

Strong, Sealed, Delivered

While only lasting just 4 ⅔ innings in the victory, starter Rogers—pitching on six days of rest—continued his run as the Marlins' most consistent starter. He allowed just two runs (one earned), striking out five. Crossing the 20-start threshold for the third time in his career, Rogers became the first Miami starter to cross the 100-inning mark this season. 

"I was really happy with how my stuff felt," noted Rogers, who sat 89-92 mph with his fastball.

"Trevor was good. I thought could have gone deeper in the game, but we didn't play clean baseball behind him. His last 10 or 11 outings have been outstanding," said manager Skip Schumaker. In his last 10 outings dating back to May 27, Rogers has a 3.31 ERA.

 

Power and the 'Pen

Following the Mets touching Rogers for the game's first run in the top of the fourth, back-to-back hits from Xavier Edwards and Vidal Bruján put rookie Christian Scott in danger. Jazz Chisholm Jr. followed with his 13th home run of the season (and fifth on a Sunday) to give Miami a 3-1 lead.

Combining the two career starts he has made in Miami, Scott has allowed 14 hits and seven runs across eight innings. 

Clinging to a one-run lead in the seventh, Jake Burger, author of a home run in Friday's 6-4 victory, provided Miami some much-needed insurance with a solo blast. Now up to 12 home runs on the season, Burger has rebounded to the tune of a .296/.356/.611 slash line with five home runs in 54 July plate appearances.

In relief of Rogers, the bullpen tandem of Declan Cronin, A.J. Puk, Calvin Faucher and Tanner Scott combined to throw 4 ⅓ scoreless innings of three-hit, nine-strikeout ball to help preserve the Miami win. Picking up right where he left off before earning his first All-Star selection, Scott has pitched 2 ⅓ perfect frames, lowering his season ERA to a minuscule 1.27. Miami's closer last allowed an earned run on June 13.

 

 

Of Note

- Vidal Bruján collected his second three-hit game of the season Sunday, having previously done so against Oakland on May 3.

- Wrong side of history: Nick Fortes became the first Marlins catcher to record three errors in the same game. 

- Reliever no-no: Following a 1-2-3 top of the ninth, Tanner Scott completed a "hidden no-hitter," as Miami's closer has now recorded 28 consecutive outs dating back to June 25 without allowing a hit. The league is hitting a collective .128 against the All-Star reliever in 2024.

 

Looking Ahead

Miami and New York conclude this four-game wrap-around series on Monday. 

Yonny Chirinos (0-1, 5.76 ERA) will look to bounce back from his last outing where he allowed 7 runs over 5 ⅔ innings against the Reds on July 12. The Mets will counter with David Peterson (4-0, 3.09 ERA). In eight career games (seven starts) against the Marlins, Peterson owns a 2.70 ERA. 

First pitch from loanDepot park is slated for 6:40 EST.

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[THOMAS JOSEPH]

Peterson is tough. The Marlins need to execute a game plan that runs up his pitch count combined with a competitive effort from Chirinos. Winning this wrap-around series would be sweet and kick the Mets back into more uncertainty regarding their trade deadline status.

It's encouraging that Lopez is at shortstop, as you suggested on many occasions. This is an evaluative season. 

I saw Bell was among the league leaders in outs produced. I am more and more convinced that you are also correct that there is little or no interest in Bell, especially with the salary onus. 

I want to be positive towards Rogers, but his pitch counts are as frustrating as can be. A hundred pitches in less than five innings regularly means Rogers doesn't have or trust his stuff or physically cannot throw a strike on demand, no? It's easy to be simplistic, granted, however, with baseball's anemic offense this year, isn't it more appropriate than ever to pitch to contact and reduce the average number of pitches per batter? Jeff Nelson mentioned this exact issue as a killer for Rogers. BABIP league average is still seven outs to three hits - and it's the Mets, not the Dodgers or Phillies. I'd much rather see a ringing hit or two than suffer through a Cabrera-like five-walk blowup inning or the stereotypical Rogers game. 

[Ely Sussman]

9 hours ago, THOMAS JOSEPH said:

Isn't it more appropriate than ever to pitch to contact and reduce the average number of pitches per batter? Jeff Nelson mentioned this exact issue as a killer for Rogers. BABIP league average is still seven outs to three hits - and it's the Mets, not the Dodgers or Phillies. I'd much rather see a ringing hit or two than suffer through a Cabrera-like five-walk blowup inning or the stereotypical Rogers game. 

The rotation as a whole with its current members struggles with throwing first-pitch strikes. Rogers is on pace for a career-low in that department. He seems to be overthinking in those situations, trying to surprise hitters rather than focusing on executing the best possible pitch to take control of the count.