Bellozo's debut spoiled after eighth inning two-out rally

Entering a 1-0 game in the eighth inning of Wednesday's series finale against the Kansas City Royals, Miami Marlins reliever Huascar Brazobán had been, in the words of his manager Skip Schumaker, "really good" as of late. After allowing two earned runs on the first day of June to the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers, the 34-year-old gave up just three more earned runs thus far in the rest of the month, including a hitless appearance in ⅔ innings of work just less than 24 hours before he took the mound in Kaufmann Stadium once again.

His quality performance looked like it was going to continue, as the Dominican made quick work of Michael Massey and Maikel García before the heart of the Royals lineup finally woke up.

Superstar shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. started the rally with a triple into the right-center field gap. He was driven in by Vinnie Pasquantino's line drive single up the middle. on a frozen rope double in to left field. The Royals then took and extended their new lead, courtesy of a Salvador Pérez frozen rope double in to left field and a single from Nick Lofton. After allowing his fifth consecutive hit and third run, Schumaker had seen enough, calling upon JT Chargois to keep Miami in the contest. Instead, Kansas City kept on rolling, tacking on two more runs off yet another single, this time off the bat of Freddy Fermin. Chargois finally escaped the inning with a Massey groundout.

When it was all said and done, the Royals put up five runs, had seven consecutive hitters reach base, six of them being on hits, all with two outs. Brazobán's season ERA now stands at 5.63. The main issue for the righty was his command, most importantly his four-seam fastball, as Royals hitters took advantage of missed spots. Three of the five hits Brazobán allowed were off of his heater.

Most importantly for the Royals faithful, closer James McArthur enjoyed an easy 1-2-3 inning on his way to clinching a 5-1 victory and series win for Kansas City for the first time in nearly three weeks when they took two out of three against the Seattle Mariners.

The biggest tragedy to come from the rally and subsequent loss is Valente Bellozo's impressive MLB debut. Schumaker had high praise for his starter, saying that he's "not sure what more you could've asked for", that Bellozo was "not scared on the mound" and "didn't hurt himself."

As Schumaker detailed, the righty was going after Royals hitters from pitch one. Bellozo did not walk a batter all day and finished his inaugural start with just 72 pitches in five innings of work.

Bellozo relied on his four-seam fastball to get ahead and his sweeper to put hitters away. Bellozo generated nine whiffs on his fastball and six on his sweeper, a combination that kept Royals hitters "off-balance," as Schumaker said.

Postgame, Bellozo detailed his competitive nature, saying that he "loved the adrenaline and nerves" and that "if you don't have it, I think you don't love the game."

On the hitting side for Miami, it was another slow day at the office. The lone run of the contest came in the form of a Nick Fortes single in the second inning. After putting up a respectable five hits in the first four innings of the game, the Marlins went hitless the entire rest of the way. The Fish put up just 16 hits over the three games in Kansas City amounting to four runs.

Next up on the road trip for Miami is a flight northeast to Citizens Bank Park and a four-game set against the division-rival Philadelphia Phillies. The probable starter on the mound for Schumaker's club is Trevor Rogers, the lone healthy arm remaining from the season-opening rotation, albeit sporting a 1-8 record with a 4.90 ERA. It won't be easy for the Marlins to end their hitting woes, as opposing them is NL Cy Young contender Zack Wheeler. First pitch is scheduled for 6:20 EDT.