For the second straight night, the Marlins continued their celebration of Miguel Cabrera, one of their most important players in franchise history. Saturday’s game coincided with a Venezuelan heritage celebration. The festivities attracted 32,936 fans. There was a pregame ceremony featuring various Venezuelan legends, honoring the country’s rich baseball history.
Miami came into this game with brand new bullpen pieces. Joining Jorge López, the team activated David Robertson who figures to take over as the Marlins’ closer. In a corresponding move, the club optioned Bryan Hoeing to AAA- Jacksonville (had not pitched in last 10 days).
The fireworks started early as Johnny Cueto allowed a stand-up double to Miguel Cabrera after he received his first of several standing ovations. Giving up a Javy Baez walk earlier put runners on second and third with two outs in the top of the second inning. A three-run shot to Akil Baddoo gave Detroit the early lead. Entering the game, Baddoo had been in a 1-for-22 slump.
Things began to heat up in the 4th with an Luis Arraez single, his 42nd multi-hit game of the season. He raised his average to a league-leading .383. Cooper followed that up with a single advancing Arraez to third, but the Marlins could not capitalize and yet again left multiple runners stranded on the basepaths.
In terms of pitching, Cueto proved to be serviceable against the Tigers. One knock on Cueto throughout his tenure as a Marlin is his inability to miss bats, which today he was able to turn it around in that department with 10 whiffs.
Before being pulled, Cueto gave up a solo shot to Riley Greene. Ultimately, Cueto ended up having an OK day to justify his spot on the Marlins pitching staff.
Final Line: 6.0 IP, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 H, 5 SO, 83 Pitches
One of the Marlins’ newest acquisitions, Jorge López, made his team debut. López gave up a walk and was helped tremendously by a great Luis Arraez double play. López still needs help with his control to return to being the same player that was an All-Star in 2022.
Five different Tigers pitchers combined to throw a shutout against the Marlins. It was a disappointing performance in front of the largest home crowd in six years and makes the series finale a must-win game for Miami because the next four after that are all against the division rival Phillies, a fellow NL Wild Card contender.
Three Stars of the Game (Marlins)
- The Attendance (largest for a Marlins home game since April 29, 2017)
- Luis Arraez (2-for-4, diving defensive play)
- Johnny Cueto (6.0 IP, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 H, 5 SO, 83 Pitches)
Marlins are back Sunday at 1:40 for the third game of the series vs. the Tigers. The starting pitching matchup will be Jesús Luzardo ( 3.22 ERA, 120.1 IP) vs. Tarik Skubal (3.71 ERA, 17.0 IP).
Photo by Danis Sosa/Fish On First
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