CIN 2, MIA 1; Marlins Lose Ninth Home Game in a Row

The Marlins wasted the Braxton Garrett game...again.

Five days after giving up five runs in five innings to the Cincinnati Reds, Garrett seemed like he was on his way to another clunker of an outing against the same opponent. The Reds put up two runs in the first inning thanks to two hits, a walk, hit-by-pitch, and a throwing error by Garrett.

But the lefty—who will be celebrating his 25th birthday in a few days—settled down and gave the Marlins a legitimate chance to win. After the first inning, he gave up just one hit and zero runs. In 5 ⅔ total innings, he struck out 11 Reds.

Unfortunately, we have an obligation to mention the offense. Miguel Rojas did a good job of playing small ball with a sacrifice fly to center field to score Charles Leblanc from third base in the sixth inning.

That was about it until the Fish showed signs of life in the bottom of the ninth. With one out, Jesús Aguilar hit a double down the left field line. Luke Williams pinch ran for him, and advanced to third base on a Lewin Díaz flyout. For the second night in a row, Jacob Stallings came to the plate with two outs in the ninth inning. Just like last time, Tuesday’s at-bat resulted in the final out.

Reds starting pitcher Graham Ashcraft—who might be considered the Reds’ ace now that Luis Castillo was traded to the Mariners a few days ago—allowed just the one run in 8 ⅓ innings. Ashcraft came into the game with a 4.84 ERA.

Tuesday’s loss was Miami’s ninth in a row at home. According to Christina De Nicola, the 66 runs that the Marlins had scored in the last 26 games coming into the night ranked last in Major League Baseball, nearly 100 runs worse than the team with the most—the New York Yankees with 161. The MLB average for teams over that span is 113 runs.

The Marlins are now 2-4 against the Reds, who began 2022 with a 3-22 record.

Notes:

-Avisaíl García was removed after running to first base in the second inning. The Marlins announced he is dealing with left hamstring discomfort. JJ Bleday replaced him in right field and went 1-for-2.

-Anthony Bender pitched a perfect 8th inning with two strikeouts in his first MLB appearance since May 18. He threw 12 pitches, 8 strikes. Bender debuted a modified slider with a maximum velocity of 88.7 mph (harder than any other slider he has thrown in his Marlins career).

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Baseball Savant

The Fish will try to salvage a win in this series on Wednesday. Sandy Alcantara will face Mike Minor at 6:40 p.m.