One inning is all it takes as Marlins lose, 4-1

Wei-Yin Chen: 4 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, 2 HR

Sal Romano: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 HR

The Marlins (11-20) lost a tough one to the struggling Reds (8-24) tonight. The drama all started in the first inning and really stayed there.

Wei-Yin Chen would start off his night by giving up a double to Jose Peraza. A passed ball later and Peraza would be at 3rd base. Chen would then walk Alex Blandino. He would bounce back by striking out Joey Votto, which was nice. Sadly the next two batters would hit a home run each, bringing the score to 4-0 Reds.

The first home run came on a low slider at 83 mph, which Eugenio Suarez took yard. The next pitch out of Chen’s hand was a fastball away. Adam Duvall would knock this one into the right field seats. Chen was quickly in the hole but would start working from there.

The game would be pretty quiet until the top of the fifth inning. Lewis Brinson came up, and with a 2-2 count blasted a solo shot into centerfield. That would be the Marlins only run of the game.

The Marlins would come back fighting in the next inning. Derek “Hit by Pitch” Dietrich would take one for the team. After watching the replay five times, I have no clue if the ball actually grazed him or not. To be honest, I did not care—the Marlins needed any kind of spark they could get.

J.T. Realmuto would follow up Dietrich’s efforts with a single, moving him to third. J.T. continues to be the hottest hitter on the Fish.

Starlin Castro would come up next, but he would line-out to right field, advancing no runners. Next up, Justin Bour would walk setting up bases loaded for Brian Anderson. The time was now, I was ready for a nice grand slam, giving the Fish the lead. The actual result on the other hand was a line-out to left field. Martín Prado would follow that up with another line-out to left fielder, ending the Marlins inning.

The Marlins would not threaten again. Brian Anderson would get two hits tonight. The five hits for the Marlins were scattered, keeping any potential runs off the board.

Chen would regroup after that rough inning and pitch fairly well. The bullpen would have an even better night. Merandy González would pitch two innings for the Fish. While he did walk three, he was able to limit the Reds to no runs. Nick Wittgren would pitch a clean inning, striking out two Reds in the process. Junichi Tazawa would come in the eight and finish the night up for the Fish. He struck out one and gave up two hits, but was able to keep any potential runs from scoring.

The Marlins will look to strike back tomorrow night at 7:10pm when Caleb Smith takes on Tyler Mahle.

Courtesy of Fangraphs

Swordfish: Eugenio Suarez (.192 WPA)

Flounder: Wei-Yin Chen (-.236)

Play of the game: Eugenio Suarez two-run home run

Attendance: 22,610

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Matchup Summary:

The Miami Marlins finally get to face a team worse than them. Drum roll please.....the Cincinnati Reds!

All jokes aside these two teams pick an interesting time to face off. The Marlins are currently riding a 4-1 record in their last five games while the Reds are 1-4.

Wei-Yin Chen will be making his second start of the season tonight, and will look to continue the success from his last start. Sal Romano will be on the mound for the Reds. He will look to continue his string of quality starts.

Will the Marlins take two out of three from the Reds? Will Chen have back to back good starts? Find out tonight at 7:10pm.

Thread Question: Will Martín Prado be traded before the July 31 deadline?