Lugo's departure, late errant throws gift Marlins 2-1 victory

Going into the seventh inning of Tuesday night's matchup against the Kansas City Royals, the Miami Marlins were desperate for any offense after they had the misfortune of facing Kansas City's ace, Seth Lugo. Miami was the latest victims of Lugo's Cy Young-caliber campaign, as the 34-year-old did not allow a hit until the fifth inning and shut down the entirety of the Marlins lineup with the exceptions of Otto Lopez and Josh Bell, who both got on with singles. Lugo was pulled only six innings in to his start with 87 pitches, opening the door for Miami to tie or take the lead.

The Marlins were still in the contest thanks to veteran righty Yonny Chirinos, who was making his second start for the club. Similar to his team and 2024 debut last week against the Cardinals, Chirinos got into multiple jams, but showed yet again that he can walk the tightrope and get out of tight situations as fast as he gets in them. Manager Skip Schumaker credited Chirinos' ability to generate "weak contact" along with his slider that generated nine whiffs over the course of his start. Chirinos' only hiccup was walking leadoff batter Maikel García back in the first, as Garcia came all the way around to score after two stolen bases and a Vinnie Pasquantino RBI single.

The aforementioned Lopez got the seventh-inning rally started for Miami, lacing a double down the left field line against new arm Carlos Hernández. After a Tim Anderson groundout moved Lopez to third, it was up to Nick Gordon to come up big for Miami. Gordon, who came up short in an identical situation back in the fifth, roped a ground ball into the four hole that Maikel García made a stellar sliding play on. Just as Mark Vientos did a few weeks back, though, García rushed his throw to first, pulling Pasquantino off of first base and allowing Lopez to come across and score, tying things at one apiece.

Just two batters later, more 2023-esque magic struck for Miami. After being in an 0-2 count against lefty reliever Will Smith, Jazz Chisholm Jr. smoked a 95.9 mph line drive right back at the veteran's left shoulder. Smith panicked and made yet another bad throw to first base, bringing home Gordon in the process. In the matter of minutes, Miami had taken the lead after looking lifeless through six innings.

A.J. Puk, Huascar Brazoban and Calvin Faucher were all lights out in their respective middle relief and setup roles, throwing up zeroes in the sixth, seventh and eighth.

Miami fought to get Tanner Scott some insurance runs off of old friend Nick Anderson in the eighth, however Anderson escaped the frame after allowing a Jake Burger double.

Scott made things more interesting than he usually does in the ninth, allowing a Salvador Pérez single and stolen base from the pinch-running Dairon Blanco, but still secured the victory for Miami, getting yet another old friend, Garrett Hampson, to ground out to Burger to make things final.

"We'll take any win however we can get it" Schumaker said when asked about the wacky albeit resilient win for his club.

The Marlins look to take their third series in a row Wednesday afternoon at 2:10 EDT. Valente Bellozo will make his MLB debut and take the ball for Miami, as announced postgame. A corresponding 26-man and 40-man roster move will be needed to make room for the 24-year-old native of Mexico, who was acquired from the Astros in the Jacob Amaya deal back in April. Brady Singer is the probable starter for Kansas City. Singer, a Florida native and former Florida Gator, possesses a 5.31 ERA in the month of June.