MIAMI — Back in June and July, the Marlins throwing a bullpen game the day before a Sandy Alcantara start wouldn’t have raised any eyebrows. But Miami’s ace has proven shakier of late. So when the Marlins opted to start Tommy Nance on Friday, there was some skepticism.
“It’s not a great situation,” manager Don Mattingly said pregame, “but it’s where we’re at. We’ve had a lot of injuries to our starting rotation. We thought this was the best way to give us our best chance to win today. … If it doesn’t go well, then it has a carryover that’s going to come in the next two, three days, and it can put your bullpen in a tough spot”
Well, after a 10-6, 10-inning loss to the Dodgers at loanDepot park in the series opener — a game in which the Marlins used eight pitchers (all bullpen arms) — that tough spot is likely to come on Saturday evening .
It seemed like smooth sailing at first. Nance and Huascar Brazoban each provided two innings of scoreless ball, getting Miami to the fifth with Bryan Hoeing entering.
Hoeing had trouble with the Dodgers in his previous outing last Saturday, which was also his Major League debut. He went three innings then, allowing seven runs on eight hits. So his one run on two hits over two innings on Friday night was a welcome shift, and a sign the young righty was already making progress at the big league level.
“He made some adjustments in what he was doing out there,” Mattingly said. “His second time out, encouraged by the adjustments. He can do some things with the ball.”
Things got tricky in the later innings, though. Dylan Floro and Steven Okert are the Marlins’ main high-leverage arms. They’ll also likely be two of the four — joined by Cole Sulser, who threw just five pitches for the final out of the ninth inning, and Richard Bleier — available out of Miami’s bullpen Saturday, since Floro and Okert are used to throwing 20-some pitches on back-to-back days.
Floro was tagged for two runs on three hits in the seventh, including a homer by Mookie Betts, who also went yard off Marlins closer Tanner Scott in the ninth inning. Scott often toes the line with his pitches, which was dangerous against the Dodgers. He allowed two runs on two hits and two walks and recorded just two outs.
“It’s kind of always the same with Tanner,” Mattingly said. “He always walks the tightrope for the most part. It looked like today, like Mookie — Tanner throws a bunch of sliders and [it looked] like a couple of guys just looking for it. … Today [Tanner] just didn’t get out of it.”
Then came the 10th inning, and a chance for rookie Andrew Nardi to learn a crucial lesson in baseball, one that his agent often repeats to the 24-year-old: remember the lesson, forget the moment.
Nardi allowed five runs (four earned) on five hits en route to his first Major League loss, including an RBI double to Betts that gave the Dodgers a lead they didn’t relinquish. It wasn’t ideal, but it was a lesson in leaving behind bad outings while learning from the mistakes. And it didn’t help that he was up against a tough Dodgers lineup that leads the National League West by 19 1/2 games.
“Just need to work on hitting my spots better, getting my slider down,” Nardi said. “Can’t be having it hang where Mookie Betts can drill it into left field. I just gotta hit my spots and look where their weaknesses are and focus on my strengths.”
“[Their lineup is] tough all the way up and down,” Mattingly said. “You just got to continue to make pitches, and they keep pressure on you. It’s what we talked about before the game. You continue to make pitches with these guys. And it’s tough because you’re going to make some mistakes. I don’t care, the best guys make mistakes. And, you know, sometimes you may get away with it, but you know, up and down the lineup, you don’t really get away with it all the time.”
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