Fish fried for fourth day in a row

MIAMI, FL—Looking to avoid their first 0-4 start to the season since 2001, the Miami Marlins would need Trevor Rogers—making his first start in nearly 12 months—to give their already-labored pitching staff a slight reprieve. From the outset, it seemed as if the former All-Star would make good on this, retiring the Pirates in order on 11 pitches in the top of the first. 

Adding onto this honeymoon phase of a start, each of the first five Marlins hitters reached base safely against Pittsburgh's Bailey Falter, punctuated by Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s fourth career grand slam. Miami's first home run of the season snapped a 30-inning homerless streak to begin the season.

Come the second inning, though, things for Rogers and Co. would quickly spiral out of control. 

After a Jake Suwinski one-out, infield single, Miami left fielder Bryan De La Cruz made a pair of costly defensive miscues, the second of which resulted in a two-run triple for Alika Williams. 

Rogers wound up throwing 38 pitches and surrendering 3 runs in that second inning, bringing his pitch count to 49 at a time when the Marlins could all but afford to have him not give them length. 

"The adrenaline was definitely pumping in that first inning," said Rogers. "You take away some of the unlucky things that happened, the walks...it puts me in a really good spot."

Fortunately, and despite giving up a fourth run on the day in the top of the fourth, Rogers powered through 5 innings of what can best be deemed as "wildly sufficient," walking 4 and striking out 6. 

"Besides that second inning, I thought Trevor looked really good," noted manager Skip Schumaker.

Encouraging, too, was Rogers' fastball, which experienced a slight dip in velocity in his last Grapefruit League outing, sitting 89-92 mph. On Sunday, Rogers' four-seam fastball consistently sat 92-94, even reaching 95 a few times early. 

Clinging to a one-run lead in the bottom of the fourth, Avisaíl García, the subject of choruses of boos in the season's opening weekend, tattooed a first-pitch splitter 421 feet over the right-center field wall for his first home run of the season. García's blast marked his first long ball since April 26 of last year when he took Atlanta's Bryce Elder deep. 

Recently recalled and making his debut Sunday, Vladimir Gutierrez worked in a fashion similar to Rogers, authoring a brisk 1-2-3 top of the sixth before trouble struck him in his second inning of work. That trouble would be fully realized when, in the bottom of the seventh, Rowdy Tellez—who was 0-for-3 with 3 strikeouts to that point in the afternoon—picked the perfect time to deliver his first Pirates home run, as his three-run blast gave Pittsburgh a 7-6 lead, one they would hold heading into the bottom of the 9th.

After Garcia struck out to begin the inning, Nick Gordon—pinch-hitting for another Nick, Fortes—reinvigorated Marlins fans with a fleeting sense of hope when he hit his second-career pinch-hit home run (previously 5/2/23 v. CHW), a solo shot against Pittsburgh closer David Bednar to even the score at 7-7.

But before Marlins fans could even pontificate on the notion of what a win in 2024 would feel like, Tanner Scott fell victim to some horrendous hybrid of Pirates small ball and substandard infield defense as the game entered extras. The Pirates would plate a pair of runs en route to securing 9-7 victory and four-game sweep to begin the regular season 4-0. 

Now 0-4 to begin the season for the first time in twenty-three years, the Marlins have allowed 31 runs in that stretch, tied for the worst such mark to begin a season in franchise history (1998, 2003). 

"It's definitely frustrating, especially when you're up 5-0," noted Schumaker. "Our bullpen is absolutely gassed, there's guys in different roles, and I don't know what those roles are, but lately, we're just trying to get through games, which is not how you want to utilize your bullpen, but we'll get there."

Of Note

- Early rotation woes: Through their first 4 games of the season, Marlins starters have pitched to a collective 7.31 ERA (13 ER in 16 IP).

- Miami's 26 walks allowed are the most through their first 4 games to open a season in franchise history. 

Looking Ahead

Miami will try for a fifth time to pick up their first victory of the season on Monday. Max Meyer will make his first Major League appearance since July 2022 when he takes the hill for Monday's series opener against the Angels. Currently ranked as the club's #3 prospect, per MLB.com, Meyer missed all of 2023 after recovering from Tommy John surgery. Opposing him, Chase Silseth (4-1, 3.96 ERA in 2023), will toe the rubber for Los Angeles.

First pitch from loanDepot park is slated for 6:40 EST.