Disastrous sixth and 'questionable' defense contribute to Miami's loss

After having their franchise-record 11-game road win streak snapped on Wednesday in Cincinnati, the Marlins handed the ball to Cal Quantrill for Thursday's series finale. Unfortunately for the veteran right-hander and his team, the Reds’ offense roughed him up his third time through the lineup, as the Marlins were shut out at Great American Ball Park, 6–0.

With the win, the Reds salvaged a series split and handed the Marlins back-to-back losses for the first time since June 19.

The night before, the Marlins had been dominated by left-hander Andrew Abbott (7.2 IP, 1 ER) after going with an all right-handed lineup. Manager Clayton McCullough stuck with the same approach against fellow lefty Nick Lodolo and ended up with a similar result. The former seventh overall pick stymied Miami’s bats for six masterful innings, keeping Miami off the board. His final line: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO. 

Continuing a series-long trend, the Reds struck early. In the bottom of the first, with two outs, outfielder Austin Hays lined an RBI single to center. The speedy Elly De La Cruz scored easily, but the ball was interestingly cut off by Quantrill, who should have been backing up the plate.

The play ended up working in Miami’s favor, as Quantrill was able to cut down Hays at second base as he attempted to advance on the throw.

After surrendering a solo home run to Spencer Steer with one out in the second, Quantrill settled in and pitched some of his best baseball of the season. He retired the next 11 batters in order. Needing just 62 pitches through five, he was seemingly destined to complete six innings for the first time this season.

"He put himself in great position to go deep in this one," McCullough said postgame. "He used his cutter really well and filled up the strike zone."

Disaster struck in the sixth, however, as Quantrill allowed five consecutive batters to reach and failed to record an out in the frame.

"They just started putting some hits together and they found some holes, unfortunately, but all in all, he threw the ball great and deserved a better fate than that," McCullough added. 

The inning was highlighted by a De La Cruz at-bat with the bases loaded and no outs. The talented shortstop lined a single to right that scored one, but Quantrill—once again failing to back up home plate—attempted to cut the ball off. It ricocheted off his glove and rolled to the backstop, allowing another run to score and both baserunners to advance.

"Some questionable cut-offs there, but those have been very infrequent from our group, so just a [mistake] there," McCullough said. 

Ronny Henriquez entered in an attempt to mitigate the damage—and did just that. The impressive waiver claim continued his dominant season, striking out the side in his lone inning of work. His 63 strikeouts this season rank tied for third among all relievers in Major League Baseball.

Quantrill’s final line: 5 IP, 7 H, 6 R (5 ER), 1 BB, 5 SO. He has not completed six innings in a start since July 24, 2024, when he was a member of the Colorado Rockies.

"We put ourselves in a good spot by winning the first two here, but unfortunately, couldn't capitalize with one of the final two and win a series," said the first-year manager. 

With the loss, the Marlins and Reds split the four-game set, and Miami fell to 42–50. The Reds improved to 48–46, good for fourth place in the NL Central.