After shutting out the Pirates in their first match up on Friday, the Marlins couldn't hold off Pittsburgh bats on Saturday. The first inning turned out to be the most detrimental for the Marlins, a frame that saw Neil Walker, Garret Jones, and Michael McKenry each drive in a run. Though Miami's bats weren't able to connect in the most important situations, one Marlin continued to show how highly underrated he is.
Run Support
Though the Pirates did manage to keep the Marlins to four runs, neither team was able to really limit hitting on Saturday.
McKenry, Pittsburgh's back-up catcher, had himself quite a night at the plate. He'd finish the game with a 4-for-5 line, driving in two runs. McKenry was one of five Pirates that finished with two hits each.
Pittsburgh's hitting quickly ended the Marlins' most recent pitching streak. Before Saturday, Miami had gone six starts without giving up more than two runs.
There wasn't a whole lot that went right for Koehler on Saturday, His fastball, though at its regular 90-93 mph range for most of the night, found too much of the plate and missed the corners. His secondary pitches, primarily his slider, found itself drifting onto the middle of the zone.
With that being said, the Pirates didn't do such a great job on the mound either. Both Pirates starter Charlie Morton and Koehler gave up nine hits. The difference was in the run support. The Pirates had 17 different at-bats with runners in scoring position, of which they'd capitalize on just six.
As inefficient as Pittsburgh's RISP numbers looked, Miami wasn't much better. They'd see 11 opportunities to drive in a run, managing to do so on just four. In total, the Marlins left nine runners stranded on base.
Hechavarria, Glove So Gold
There isn't much to say here. Hech has been giving Marlins fans some fun defense to watch. He's been one of the most exciting short stops in baseball. I'm on a personal mission to talk about Hech as much as possible. Baseball fans need to watch this guy play the field.
He'd provide some more impressive feats of glove work tonight against the Pirates, including this diving grab on a hit from former Marlin Gaby Sanchez.
Source: FanGraphs