In aftermath of Fortes trade report, Marlins can’t find spark against Cardinals

The Miami Marlins just didn’t have it Monday. "You don't play well in multiple facets, nights like this happen," manager Clayton McCullough said when summarizing the 7-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Andre Pallante, who came into Monday with a 4.91 ERA—5.03 at home—didn’t allow a hit until Graham Pauley singled to right field to lead off the sixth inning. It was the only hit the right-hander would give up in seven shutout innings. 

It’s not like the Marlins couldn’t make contact, but they struggled to get quality contact. Miami put 18 balls in play in those seven innings, marred by lazy fly outs and weak grounders. As a team, they had an average exit velocity of 85.1 miles per hour against Pallante. 

Pallante’s counterpart in Edward Cabrera was just a couple pitches worse. He allowed one earned run and four hits over six innings, the lone run being an Alec Burleson home run in the third. Cabrera allowed three walks, the first time in five starts that he allowed multiple free passes. Despite that, he still made it through six innings for a quality start, which has becoming increasingly commonplace for Cabrera as the season has worn on. 

Just hours after the Marlins reached an agreement to trade veteran catcher Nick Fortes, two of the Cardinals' first three runs scored could be attributed to Agustin Ramirez, who the Marlins continue to try out at catcher despite his continued struggles there. 

With Yohel Pozo attempting to advance on a wild pitch in the fourth inning, Ramírez airmailed the throw to third base. It trickled down the left field line, allowing Pozo to score. In the seventh inning, Ramírez was called for catcher interference with the bases loaded, allowing another run to score. 

Down 3-0 now and the bases loaded, the Marlins brought in Lake Bachar to get the second out of the frame. But Masyn Winn and Jordan Walker hit back-to-back doubles to break everything open and give the Cardinals a 7-0 lead. 

Josh Simpson was charged with three of those runs for loading the bases. 

The lone run Miami scored was a ninth-inning Heriberto Hernandez single that scored Jesús Sánchez. Hernandez started on short noticed in place of Kyle Stowers, who was scratched due to illness.

The Marlins played a man down with the Fortes trade not yet finalized. Expect a corresponding roster move prior to Tuesday's game.