Marlins’ Offense Show Too Little, Too Late; Fall to Reds 4-2

The Marlins weren’t able to overcome their slow start on offense, dropping the first game of the series to the Reds, 4-2.

Jeff Brigham had his struggles, but overall, put together his best start in The Majors so far. Of the five innings he pitched, four of those were scoreless. What got him in trouble tonight was the excessive amount of walks he allowed, and the efficiency of his pitching. Of his 86 pitches, only 56 percent were strikes. After allowing the first two men to reach base in the third inning, he gave up a double to Scooter Gennett, and gave the Reds a 2-0 lead. Despite the sloppy control, he had the strikeout pitch working for him at times.

Elieser Hernandez came in for two innings of relief. He wasn’t able to handle Gennett, either, giving up a two-run home run in the seventh.

The Marlins offense was stagnant through most of the night, especially the bats towards the middle and end of the lineup. The No. 5 through 8 hitters combined to go 0-for-14.

However, the top of the lineup started cooking in the eighth. After Starlin Castro reached base on a walk, J.T. Realmuto doubled to left to drive in the first run of the game. Peter O’Brien continued to impress, and followed up Realmuto’s RBI with an RBI of his own to cut the lead to 4-2.

The Fish were flirting with another comeback in the ninth. Rafael Ortega and Brian Anderson both walked, putting the winning-run run at the plate for Miguel Rojas. Rojas roped a ball to the right side, but was speared by none other than Scooter Gennett for the final out.

The Marlins and Reds play again tomorrow at 7:10 p.m. Former Marlin prospect Luis Castillo will be on the mound for the Reds, while Wei-Yin Chen looks to continue his dominance at Marlins Park (and only at Marlins Park).

Flounder: Elieser Hernandez (-0.75 WPA)

Kingfish: J.T. Realmuto (0.50 WPA)

Moment of the game: Scooter Gennett’s line drive catch to end the game.

When the Marlins and Reds met back in early May, many believed that it was a matchup between the two worst teams in baseball. Coming down the final stretch of the season, both clubs have had flashes of “not being that terrible”, but both of them still find themselves close to the bottom of the standings. The Marlins currently find themselves tied with the Chicago White Sox for the No. 3 position in the 2019 MLB Draft.

On the mound for Miami will be Jeff Brigham. He dominated in the minors before getting the September call-up. In 90 1.3 IP between Double-A/Triple-A, he had a 2.50 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. In two Major League starts, he hasn’t had as much success. His ERA is at 7.36 in two starts and 7 ¹⁄₃ IP.

Pitching for the Reds is Cody Reed. Reed has split a lot of time between the bullpen and the rotation this year. But the left-hander has struggled in his five starts. In 21 ²⁄₃ IP as a starter, he has a 5.40 ERA. However, he’s coming off his best outing of the season in which he pitched a five-inning shutout against the Cubs last week.