Marlins anemic offense continues in crushing 9-1 loss to the Phillies

Last night was not the night for Sandy Alcántara. He gave up six earned runs, in five innings of work. The Marlins offense continued to struggle last night. Alcántara did not get much support and the Phillies overpowered the Fish.

Sandy Alcántara: 5 IP, 6 ER, 11 H, 2 BB, 6 K

Jake Arrieta: 7 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 8 K

Alcántara started the game off using all of his stuff well. He got into trouble in the first inning, but was able to walk the tight rope well. The "tight rope” term will be something that I will bring up many times this season. These young arms do not have the stuff yet to completely overpower a hitter. There are a lot of good teams in the National League East Division, and the young arms will face them a lot. The ability to get out of these tight situations will be key this season for the starting rotation.

The second inning was no issue for Alcántara. He lost his balance in the third inning and the Phills jumped all over him. The top of the lineup proved to be too much to face a second time. The Phills pulled together four singles and two doubles. The five runs were all they needed, but they would score more later. The inning started with Jake Arrieta hitting and it ended that way. Alcántara would make it out, but he was definitely not the same.

The Phills would score one more run off of Alcántara in the fifth inning before he was done. Austin Brice was the next victim giving up three runs in the eighth inning. This inning was just rough. There was a throwing error, a hit by pitch, and a three-run home run by Andrew McCutchen. This was a sloppy inning to say the least.

The Fish scrapped together 5 hits compared to the Phills 14. The offense continued to be spread out, and this limited the Fish to one run. Jorge Alfaro had two hits on the night, and was the only person to make it home. He started the seventh off with a single, followed by a double from Miguel Rojas. Austin Dean, who was just recalled up from Triple-A hit a sacrifice fly to score Alfaro.

The Marlins continue to look weak at the plate. The contact is missing and they are just in a bad groove at the moment. Alfaro is starting to look like a good replacement at catcher. The starting rotation is not always going to have a good game and thats where the offense needs to come in. The Fish are currently on a 5 game losing streak. Caleb Smith looks to change this as he faces Zach Eflin. First pitch is at 6:10 p.m.

Phillies vs Marlins box score (MLB.com).

Fish Picks answer key

1.Arrieta

2.Over

3. Under

4. Realmuto

5. Phillies