Marlins 6, Diamondbacks 2
PHOENIX, May 9 — Brandon Pfaadt, the highly touted Arizona Diamondbacks pitching prospect, had his second rough outing in as many major league starts as the Miami Marlins defeated the Diamondbacks, 6–2, in a game that wasn’t as close as the score suggested. Jorge Soler went 2-for-4 to lead the Marlins to victory, with two tape-measure homers, five RBI, and two runs scored. Marlins starter Jesus Luzardo scattered seven hits across six innings, limiting the Diamondbacks to one earned run while walking two and striking out five. Evan Longoria was 3-for-4 for the Diamondbacks in the loss, finishing a triple shy of the cycle.
“Little bit of a stinker out there,” manager Torey Lovullo summarized after the game. “(Brandon) was relying a little bit too much on his fastball. He wasn’t pitching. He’s got a full arsenal of pitches. And he can work off of his fastball, read and react to swings, make adjustments, and make quality pitches at all times. But I thought his fastball command was a little erratic. He was staying stubborn to it, got clipped for a three-run home run, and that ended up equaling a big, crooked number.”
The Big, Crooked Number
Center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. lined the first pitch of the game into right field for a single. Two batters later, and after Chisholm stole second, second baseman Luis Arraez singled to center, advancing Chisholm to third with one out. Left fielder Bryan De La Cruz popped to second, giving Pfaadt a chance to escape with no damage, but right fielder Jesus Sanchez belted a double to left, scoring Chisholm. A fly to deep right by first baseman Yuli Gurriel ended the frame with the Marlins leading, 1–0.
Pfaadt seemed to have settled down in the top of the second after Luzardo pitched a 1–2–3 bottom of the first. Shortstop Joey Wendle and catcher Nick Fortes popped to short and grounded to short, respectively. However, third baseman Jon Berti extended the inning with a double to the gap in right-center. After Chisholm walked, Soler — the designated hitter — launched a 468-foot bomb to left-center, the ball landing on the stadium concourse for a majestic three-run homer. Arraez flied to the shortstop in shallow left, retiring the side with the Marlins holding a 4–0 advantage.
Diamondbacks Try to Chip Away, but Marlins Widen Lead
The Diamondbacks got on the board in the bottom of the fourth. First baseman Christian Walker drew a one-out walk and advanced to second on a follow-up single to right by third baseman Evan Longoria. Center fielder and speed demon Corbin Carroll hit a sinking liner toward second, forcing Longoria to hold up halfway. A charging Arraez had to short hop it. With no chance to retire Carroll, Arraez threw to second for an easy force play. Shortstop Nick Ahmed ripped a single to left, scoring Walker. Catcher Gabriel Moreno walked, loading the bases for right fielder Dominic Fletcher. Fletcher hit a high bouncer behind the mound that had a chance to be an infield single. But Berti charged hard to his left and leapt, snatching the ball out of the air in time to nab the speedy Fletcher by a narrow margin.
The score did not remain 4–1 for long, as the Marlins struck again in the top of the fifth. Chisholm drew a leadoff walk, bringing up Soler, who mashed his second dinger of the game. The high looper to the seats under the overhang in left-center — “only” 433 feet, this time — extended the Marlins lead to 6–1. A low, sharp liner toward left by Arraez threatened to be the seventh Marlins hit of the game, but a full-extension dive by Ahmed turned it into a lineout. De La Cruz did get the seventh Marlins hit, following with a single, but a 4–6–3 double play groundout by Sanchez retired the side. The fifth inning — and Pfaadt’s outing — ended with the Marlins holding a 6–1 lead.
“Always Something to Learn”
“It didn’t go as planned,” Pfaadt said, “but there’s always something to learn. Like I said last time (in Texas), there’s one hitter that killed us again tonight. I think there’s something to build off of.” Pfaadt was referring, of course, to Jorge Soler. When asked what made Soler difficult, Pfaadt said, “We tried to attack him in. I missed a few times in, which didn’t open up away as much as we would have liked.”
With the rest of the hitters, Pfaadt made most of his mistakes over the middle, leading to lots of hard contact. Pfaadt doesn’t think it’s mechanical, but instead comes from a lack of trust in himself. “I (need to) trust myself to get ahead on the corners instead of trying to nitpick.” He said this made him fall behind in the count and forced him to ultimately “attack in the zone.”
Pfaadt said his lesson from this game was “that trying to nitpick at corners and getting behind — which ultimately leads to leaving balls middle — I think we need to do a better job at that.”
Too Little, Too Late, as Marlins Slam Door on Diamondbacks
Kevin Ginkel pitched 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, with Scott McGough notching the third out of the top of the eighth. Huascar Brazoban tossed a scoreless seventh, but Matt Barnes did not see the same success in the bottom of the eighth. With one out, Longoria blasted a no-doubt homer to left, making the score 6–2. Two batters later, Ahmed poked a two-out single to right, but a grounder to second by Moreno left him stranded.
A scoreless ninth by McGough kept the deficit at four as the Diamondbacks grabbed their bats for the bottom of the ninth. Fletcher led off with a single to left, advancing to second on a slow groundout to short by Marte. Designated hitter Pavin Smith advanced Fletcher to third with a single to right, bringing up left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. with the tying run now on deck. But a grounder back to the mound turned into a game-ending 1–4–3 double play, slamming the door on the Diamondbacks and their comeback hopes.
Some Concern from Team over Brandon Pfaadt, but His Rotation Spot Is Not in Jeopardy
Lovullo said Pfaadt’s leash is long enough that he’ll get another start. “There are some growing pains that are taking place right now. But he’s got the stuff, and he’s got the ability to blend and pitch and help us win baseball games.”
Most of Pfaadt’s mistakes, as mentioned before, were middle-middle. Lovullo said of this, “You’ve gotta command the baseball. It doesn’t matter (the level) — you’ve got to put the ball where you want. He’s usually very good at that. We’ve watched him a long time. We all felt like this was going to be a challenge for him, to grow and learn with each inning and each outing. He’s very responsible to what he sees and what is happening, and he’ll improve upon it the next time. That’s been his track record. But…there were some center-cut middle mistakes where guys can get some extension. His fastball commands got to improve.”
Later, Lovullo added, “He’s got to blend his pitches better. I think he’s got to land different pitches in different areas with different speeds — side to side, up down, front to back. It’s no mystery. Some pitchers can only go side to side. He can run up floors. He could throw a changeup, so he can change speeds front-to-back. And he can also break balls off the edges of the plate. He has the ability to do a lot. But he’s young, and he’s learning and growing. We just gotta be patient, and it’ll happen for him. And I explained that to him.”
Quick Hits
Brandon Pfaadt, in essence, replaced the departed Madison Bumgarner in the pitching rotation. The two pitchers have combined to allow 32 earned runs over 26 1/3 innings for an ERA of 10.94. … Kevin Ginkel’s 2 2/3 innings made for the longest outing of his major league career. … Ginkel is now 12-for-16 in scoreless relief outings in 2023, 75.0%. McGough is now 11-for-17 in scoreless outings, 64.7%. The league average is around 69%. … Jorge Soler’s two homers combined for a distance of 901 feet.
Looking Ahead
Luzardo (3–2) earned the win, while Pfaadt (0–1) took the loss. The Marlins (18–19) and Diamondbacks (20–16) square off in the final game of their three-game series Wednesday afternoon. Edward Cabrera (2–3, 4.78 ERA) will toe the rubber for the Marlins against Merrill Kelly (3–3, 2.75 ERA) of the Diamondbacks in a battle of right-handers. First pitch will be at 12:40 pm Arizona Time.
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