Marlins lose first series since MLB All-Star break

MIAMI, FL—Aiming to get the series split on Thursday night, the Miami Marlins had to go through All-Star right-hander Hunter Greene. Despite putting together some quality at-bats against him and enjoying clutch performances from most of their relievers, they lost to the Cincinnati Reds in extra innings, 10-4. This was the first series loss for the Marlins since the MLB All-Star break.

The Marlins offense had a quiet night except for a three-run fourth inning. The Marlins loaded the bases with no outs before a Derek Hill RBI fielder’s choice. Vidal Bruján and Jhonny Pereda would drive in the other two runs with RBI singles.

The main issue was their combined 2-for-14 production with runners in scoring position.

Right-handed pitcher Kyle Tyler got the start for the Marlins. Tyler struggled early in his outing giving up two runs in the first and another in the third. Tyler threw 4 ⅓ innings allowing five hits, three runs, two walks, and three strikeouts.

Relief pitcher Jesus Tinoco came in for Tyler, who had allowed two runners on base with one out. Tinoco was able to work around the traffic with a Tyler Stephenson strikeout and TJ Friedl fly out to center field. He threw 1 ⅓ innings allowing one hit, no runs, no walks, and one strikeout. Declan Cronin replaced Tinoco in the top of the sixth with two outs and a runner on second.  Cronin got Noelvi Marte to ground out to Xavier Edwards at shortstop.

Southpaw reliever Andrew Nardi came in relief for the seventh and dominated. Nardi had a clean inning and struck out all three batters faced.

In the eighth inning, Miami handed the ball to Anthony Bender. After giving up a leadoff single to Tyler Stephenson, Bender retired the next three batters and kept the ballgame tied at three. Calvin Faucher pitched in the ninth and had a quick 1-2-3 inning.

Eventually, the Fish ran out of trustworthy arms to use. Emmanuel Ramirez pitched in the tenth inning and was awful in his short relief outing. Making his job more difficult, a well-located 3-2 pitch was called a ball to force in Cincinnati's go-ahead run. Ramirez didn’t record a single out and allowed seven runs (five earned) on three hits, two walks, and one hit by pitch; in his previous 11 appearances as a big leaguer, he had allowed only four runs.

Right-hander Darren McCaughan finished the tenth inning, though the damage had already been done.

Xavier Edwards went 2-for-5 in his first game after losing his 23-game on-base streak. Jhonny Pereda went 2-for-4, collecting his first two hits and first RBI of his MLB career.

What’s next?

The Marlins will host the San Diego Padres for a three-game weekend series. Right-handed pitcher Edward Cabrera will be on the mound for the Marlins. Cabrera pitched well in his last outing against the Atlanta Braves. He pitched five innings allowing three hits, no runs, two walks, and eight strikeouts.

Veteran left-handed pitcher Martin Pérez will get the start for the Padres. Pérez was traded from the Pirates to the Padres at the MLB trade deadline. In his first start, he threw six innings allowing three hits, one run, no walks, and seven strikeouts. The first pitch for the series opener is at 7:10 pm EST.