Pitching implodes as Fish wind up on wrong side of 60

If there were ever a pitcher to best expose the offensive shortcomings of the Miami Marlins, Framber Valdez may have been born to play that part.

Entering the night with the most double plays (20) among big league hurlers in 2024, Miami and their MLB-high 50.3% groundball rate played the George Martin to Framber's double-play Beatles, as the sinkerballer induced three twin killings over his 7 innings en route to his eighth victory of the season in the Astros' 9-1 win over the Marlins. The two-time All-Star tied a season-high with 10 strikeouts in his latest effort.

Miami's lone run came on an Xavier Edwards single in the top of the fifth. Entering Wednesday as the worst offensive team in the Majors according to wRC+ (77), the Marlins are averaging just 3.1 runs per game to begin July.

Now 32-60, Miami ties their season-worst as they fall to 28 games under .500. It's the first time in franchise history that they've suffered 60 losses before the All-Star break. Houston, on the other hand, moved to 48-44.

Hang with 'Em, Hoeing

In his second start of the season, swingman Bryan Hoeing lasted just three innings, surrendering five runs, including four in the bottom of the second that saw rookie Joey Loperfido rip his second career home run.

Of his 62 pitches thrown, Hoeing generated just one whiff, notable considering his four-seam and sinker were a tick under their season-average velocities.

"I thought his stuff was good...we just didn't always play clean defense behind him," noted Skip Schumaker. 

Though Hoeing was responsible for the only Miami error on the evening, Houston picked up a run in the second when center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. misjudged a Jake Meyers fly ball that allowed Jon Singleton to score.

Largely absent Wednesday was Hoeing's split-changeup, a pitch he featured 13% of the time in his prior appearances this season. In his latest outing, the 27-year-old threw just three such pitches. 

Of Note

- Though otherwise ineffective, surrendering 4 runs, Declan Cronin became the second Marlin to strike out 5 in a single relief outing. Huascar Brazoban previously accomplished the feat on July 6.

- Emmanuel Rivera made his fourth appearance on the mound this season, authoring a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth. Primarily a third baseman, Rivera has gone scoreless in each of his last three outings. 

- Jazz update: Some three weeks ahead of the July 30 trade deadline, Chisholm went 0-for-3 in Wednesday's loss. Miami's center fielder is now hitting .256 with 11 home runs through 89 games played. 

Looking Ahead

In place of commonly seen getaway day games, Miami and Houston will conclude their series with a nighttime contest. Roddery Muñoz (1-3, 5.48 ERA) will make his ninth start of the season in the finale. Jake Bloss (0-0, 4.91 ERA) will oppose him in what will be just his second Major League appearance.

First pitch from Minute Maid Park is slated for 8:10 EST.