KC 1, MIA 6: Luzardosaurus

Coming off of yet another comeback victory and looking for their fifth straight victory, the Marlins sent Jesus Luzardo to the mound to face off against ageless wonder, Zack Greinke. After going blow for blow in keeping the other teams scoreless, Luzardo ended up out-dueling the 39-year-old.

Jesus Luzardo began the game by retiring 14 of the first 15 batters that he faced, only allowing a single in the first to Bobby Witt Jr. that was erased by a double play to face the minimum through five. He recorded two strikeouts each in the second, third, fourth, and fifth inning for a total of eight heading into the sixth inning.

On the offensive side, the Marlins were facing vintage Zack Greinke through the first four innings as they had yet to record a hit before Jesus Sanchez unloaded on a first-pitch curveball to lead off the bottom of the fifth. 103.8 MPH, 26 DEG, 379 FT to the opposite field for his fifth home run of the season. Marlins lead 1-0.

Joey Wendle and Jean Segura followed with back-to-back singles and some heads-up baserunning to advance to second and third on an error. Then Nick Fortes grounded a ball to the left side that should've probably resulted in a groundout, but they tried to nab Wendle at third and were unsuccessful, and everyone was safe. Bases loaded, nobody out. Jonathan Davis struck out, then Luis Arraez slashed a single into left to move everyone up 90 feet and extend the lead to 2-0. That would end the night for Zack Greinke.

Jorge Soler popped out, and then Bryan De La Cruz crushed a bases-clearing double to blow the game wide open and give the Marlins a 5-0 lead heading into the sixth.

The Royals plated a run in the top of the sixth off Luzardo, but Jesus buckled down and kept them quiet through the seventh inning. And just a day after reading a book about dinosaurs to students from a local school, the Luzardosaurus twirled a seven-inning gem.

His final line: 7.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, 1 WP, 86/62 P/S.

The Marlins plated another run in the bottom of the seventh as Luis Arraez scored on a wild pitch after reaching base on a single that raised his batting average to .401. Manager Skip Schumaker said that he was running out of adjectives to describe how well Luis Arraez has been hitting. 6-1 Marlins. Tanner Scott and Bryan Hoeing combined for a scoreless 8th and 9th, and the Marlins took their fifth straight by the final score of 6-1.

Noah's Notes and What's Next

• It's June 6 and Luis Arraez is hitting .401. Let that sink in.
• The Marlins are now six games over .500 at this point in the season for the first time since 2016.
• Jesus Luzardo struck out the man who caught him in the WBC twice.
• Joey Wendle had another multi-hit game.
• .401!
• Time of Game: 2 hours, 14 minutes.
• Looking for the sweep and six in a row tomorrow at 6:10 PM! (NOTE: That is a change in start time to accommodate the Heat game.)
• Edward Cabrera on the bump.
• Kevin Barral and I in the pressbox.
• 'Til Tmrw!