MIA 1, ATL 7: Fish Fried

The game of baseball, as do most things in life, tends to have a way of sorting itself out.

For the Miami Marlins offense, most are wondering if and when this will be the case. The past 33 games entering Sunday’s series finale in Atlanta have been akin to a funeral dirge to run scoring. In that span - dating back to July 29th - Miami has hit a collective .195/.265/.309, in which they’ve gone 8-25 and fallen 22 games under .500.

So, when Atlanta starter Max Fried, who has been a mere mortal in 11 preceding starts against Miami - pitching to a 5.40 ERA - began the afternoon with 5 no-hit innings, you almost felt it a perfect meeting of anemic offense and dominant pitching.

And then, the rain, which had started in the 4th inning, intensified. After coaxing in an inning-ending double play against Joey Wendle, out came the tarps.

Atlanta would get the scoring started in the 3rd thanks to a Dansby Swanson sacrifice fly to score Eddie Rosario. Marcel Ozuna, recently arrested and charged with a DUI on August 19th, sent a 96-mph Pablo López offering just over the right field stands for his 21st home run of the season.

Despite going just 4 innings in the 7-1 loss, López looked sharp, K-ing 7 as he reached 150 innings pitched on the season.

An hour and fifty-one minutes later as the tarps were listed, Fried’s day was done, the no-hitter still intact.

In relief of Fried, Jesse Chavez etched two scoreless innings, though Miami would collect their first hit courtesy of a Miguel Rojas single.

Miami’s lone run would come via an RBI single by the prior-noted Wendle.

• Looking Ahead

As if they didn’t already need a mental day off, the Marlins partake in the Labor Day festivities as they travel to Philadelphia to begin a mid-week series against the Phillies. Miami will give the ball to Jesús Luzardo (3-6, 3.44 ERA) as he looks to bounce back after allowing 5 runs in an August 30th loss to Tampa Bay. Philadelphia has yet to announce a starter for the series opener. First is slated for 6:45 Eastern.

Of Note

• Per Baseball-Savant’s pitch data courtesy of Statcast, the two 97.1 mph fastballs López threw Sunday set new career bests. The right-hander’s previous fastest pitch, 96.9 mph, came on 06/19 last season to Kris Bryant, then of the Chicago Cubs.
• With the loss, Miami falls to 4-12 against Atlanta this season.

Baseball-Savant