Jarlin the Marlin has a memorable first start, but the pen falters late

Jarlin Garcia made the most of his debut as a starting pitcher, going six strong no-hit innings before being lifted for Drew Steckenrider by the start of the seventh.

Many Marlins fans questioned this decision, as Jarlin was only at 77 pitches, but it seems pretty clear that they had a pitch limit for him (he’d only thrown 73 pitches in a single outing once before), and once they reached that, he was going to be done. Jarlin’s fantastic final line was no run on no hits through six innings pitched, two walks and three strikeouts. Yeah, we’ll be seeing some more of him in the rotation.

Perhaps some of the trepidation regarding Mattingly’s decision to yank Garcia lay less in the fact that he had a no-hitter going and more in the observed early season shakiness of the bullpen.

Steckenrider survived his inning just fine, but things fell apart for the rest in the eighth. It went like this:

• Tayron Guerrero ¹⁄₃ innings pitched: Plunks Kevin Plawecki, strikes out Amed Rosario.
• Chris O’Grady 0 innings pitched: Michael Conforto double, Adrian Gonzalez single plates two, Asdrubal Cabrera singles.
• Junichi Tazawa ²⁄₃ innings pitched: Wilmer Flores ground-rule double scores Gonzalez, Cabrera moves up to third and scores on a Todd Frazier sac-fly, Tomas Nido grounds into fielder’s choice.

Four runs in, 4-1 Mets. Brutal.

Offensively the Marlins couldn’t get much going against Zack Wheeler, who should be given credit for his seven inning, one run performance (replete with seven K’s).

The lone blemish on his resume was courtesy of Miguel Rojas, who made sure the Marlins made it onto the board today with a first inning solo shot.

Rojas also had an outstanding snag of a would-be liner in the seventh, at the time preserving the no-no. Old friend AJ Ramos came on to finish the the Fish off in the ninth, and just like that, the mighty Mets have won eight straight.

The Marlins, meanwhile, fall to 3-9 and will have a day of rest tomorrow, before welcoming the Pittsburgh Pirates into town for three.

Courtesy of Fangraphs

Swordfish: Jarlin Garcia (.365)

Flounder: Chris O’Grady (-.530)

Play of the game: Adrian Gonzalez 8th inning single (.288)

Attendance: 6,150 (for reals)

Matchup Summary:

Pressed for time today friends, so in the immortal words of Perd Hapley:

"Here is a game thread, which is a thread where you can talk about the game."

Don't forget them Itchy picks.