After going 0-6 on the first road trip after the All-Star break, the Marlins looked to get back in the win column against the Rockies, but that wasn’t the case. The Rockies went for two runs in the first and they didn’t look back from there. A struggling Colorado pitching staff mostly dominated Miami to take game one of the three-game set and turn up the heat even more on the Marlins as the MLB trade deadline gets closer and closer. Final: 6-1.
Braxton Garrett, who had a rough outing against the Orioles in game two of that series, didn’t look much better on Friday as he gave up seven hits, six earned runs, three home runs and five strikeouts. Although Braxton relied on his usual sinker/slider combo, Garrett was unable to locate pitches well and the Rockies took advantage of the ones he did throw into the strike zone.
“I thought the curveball was just getting hit more than usual,” said Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker. “A couple of home runs off that. He feels good. It’s just we haven’t gotten the he hasn’t been as successful last few starts.”
The first home of three Rockies home runs came in the first inning was from C.J. Cron. Braxton threw a curveball that landed in the lower portion of the strike zone and hit it 402 feet for a two-run homer to give the Rockies an early 2-0 lead.
After the home run, Garrett gave up an RBI double to Alan Trejo, which drove in Randal Grichuk to make the game 3-0, Rockies. It didn’t take long until the second home run of the game was hit by Jurickson Profar, also traveling 402 feet, but this one went to right-center. Once again, Braxton got beat on his curveball.
The cherry on the top for the Rockies was the third and final home run of the game, which was hit by Marlins killer Elias Díaz 405 feet into the Marlins bullpen to extend the lead, 6-0. This time around, Braxton went with the cutter and left it hanging. Díaz also homered three times against the Marlins earlier in the season when these teams met in Coors Field.
The one bright spot of the night for the Fish was the pitcher that came in after Garrett, George Soriano. He went four innings of hitless baseball and struck out eight. Although Soriano’s velocity was slightly down, the spin rate on his pitches was up.
Soriano stuck with the usual fastball/slider combo and generated 13 whiffs, a huge total for any relief appearance. Although most of his strikeouts were on the slider, he did utilize his changeup for two of them. To say that he did his job tonight is an understatement, eating valuable innings for a bullpen that could be busy on Saturday in support of Johnny Cueto.
“Kept us in the game and helped us for tomorrow,” said Schumaker.
Miami was able to score one run off of a Nick Fortes groundout that drove in Bryan De La Cruz. However, the team went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
Right-hander Gavin Hollowell then came in and shut the door down for the Rockies to take game one of the three-game set.
The Marlins have now lost seven straight games, which is Skip Schumaker’s longest losing streak as a manager, but he’s been through this before during his baseball career.
“I think you kinda find out who you are when you’re going through these valleys,” said Schumaker. “It’s easy when you’re winning. Coming into the ballpark and you’re having fun and everyone’s laughing and smiling. You kinda find out who you are and what your work looks like and what kinda teammate you are and what kinda coach you are when you go through these valleys.”
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