Marlins look to beat the odds vs. Mets
The good news Friday night for the Miami Marlins was they only needed to use three pitchers in a game in which their starter gave up eight runs in the first inning.
Of course, that's not very good news, nor is the fact their reward for maintaining a well-rested bullpen is a date with the New York Mets and reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom.
The Marlins will look to beat the odds and snap their latest slide Saturday, when they visit the Mets in the middle game of a three-game series. Miami's Sandy Alcantara (1-3, 4.93 ERA) is scheduled to oppose deGrom (2-4, 3.60 ERA) in a battle of right-handers.
The Mets cruised to victory Friday night when Amed Rosario's grand slam blew open the first inning and sparked an 11-3 win. New York scored four fewer runs Friday than it did on a six-game road trip that ended Wednesday.
"You don't see that type of inning very often, that's very rare," manager Mickey Callaway said after the Mets' biggest first inning since New York scored eight runs against the Philadelphia Phillies on June 16, 1989. "So that's fun, just to see something you don't normally see. I think everybody took a deep breath after that like, 'OK, we can still score runs.'"
Unfortunately for the Marlins, the rough outing for starter Pablo Lopez was something they've seen recently. Lopez, who gave up 10 runs in three innings, is the second Miami pitcher this season to surrender 10 runs in an outing. Wei-Yin Chen allowed 10 runs in two innings of relief on Apr. 9.
The Marlins, who have the worst record in baseball at 10-28 and have lost four straight and 11 of 13, at least got some relief Friday, when Austin Brice and Jose Quijada combined to allow one run over the last five innings.
"(Don't) have to use anybody else," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "Did a really nice job for us."
On Saturday, the Mets will hope to continue seeing something they grew accustomed to last season. DeGrom, who struggled for three starts in April before and after a bout with strep throat and a sore right elbow, has looked more like himself in his last two starts, during which he's allowed just two runs over 14 innings. He gave up those runs in taking a hard-luck loss Monday, when he tossed seven innings as New York fell to the San Diego Padres, 4-0.
"My goal is to go out there and put up zeroes and give these guys a chance to win," deGrom told reporters afterward.
Alcantara didn't factor into the decision in his most recent start Monday, when he gave up three runs over five innings in the Marlins' 6-5 win over the Chicago Cubs.
DeGrom is 5-6 with a 3.36 ERA in 17 career starts against the Marlins. Alcantara is 1-1 with a 1.89 ERA in three starts against the Mets.
--Field Level Media
