Source: FanGraphs
Attendance: 13,259
Hero of the Game: No one
Goat of the Game: Ricky Nolasco (-0.239 WPA)
Play of the Game: Carlos Gomez singled in the first inning. Norichika Aoki scored. Carlos Gomez advanced to third base on an error by Rob Brantly.
The Miami Marlins thought the return of Giancarlo Stanton to the roster would be more triumphant than tonight's matchup versus the Milwaukee Brewers.
Unfortunately for the Fish, they suffered a collapse both on the offensive and defensive sides of the field, leading to a complete 6-1 loss to the Brewers. On the offensive side, the Marlins mustered just five hits versus Yovani Gallardo of the Brewers. The Marlins managed their only run in the ninth inning, when they picked up the meaningless run on, of all things, a triple by Juan Pierre and a ground out by Ed Lucas.
Pierre ended up with two of the Marlins' five hits, including a single as well as the triple and his 17th stolen base of the season. The Marlins' other three hits were all singles by starting pitcher Ricky Nolasco, pinch-hitter Miguel Olivo, and Stanton, who finished the game 1-for-4 with a strikeout in his 2013 re-debut. Gallardo ate up the Marlins despite just four strikeouts in eight innings of work.
On the other side, Ricky Nolasco was looking to build on a strong start to his 2013 season, but he ran into a bout of "bad Ricky" in tonight's game. Nolacso struck out five in 5 1/3 innings, but he also gave up a home run to Ricky Weeks and yielded four runs in the first three innings before settling in for a spell. Nolasco's performance was indicative of the Nolasco of old, as he induced 15 swings-and-misses in 105 pitches but also struggled with runners on base, leading to runs in the first few innings and a tough first-and-second situation with one out in the sixth inning.
Ryan Webb maneuvered out of that jam, but he could not get away from his own struggles in the seventh inning. Webb allowed a leadoff triple to the ultra-hot Gomez and yielded runs on three consecutive singles by Jonathan Lucroy, Logan Schafer, and Weeks.
Placido Polanco got the start at third base tonight, but he left the game midway thanks to a fall suffered while chasing a foul ball. Ed Lucas entered the game in his place.