Pablo Lopez and the Miami Marlins Defeat Cleveland Indians

Pablo Lopez had his best stuff, and held the Cleveland Indians hitless until the sixth inning.

The Miami Marlins limited the Cleveland Indians to one run on only three hits with 12,963 on hand at Progressive Field. Pablo Lopez‘ efforts were front-and-center, and resulted in a season-high GameScore of 71. He struck out six over 6 1/3 innings, allowing only an unearned run on two hits and two walks. It was Lopez’ first Quality Start of the season.

Here’s a few other things we noticed in the game tonight.

The Bullpen Was Solid

After keeping the Indians hitless until the sixth inning, Lopez allowed Jose Ramirez a one-out single, but erased him on a Carlos Santana double play ball one pitch later.

Lopez came out for the seventh, and allowed Carlos Gonzalez a leadoff single. Jason Kipnis reached base next, on a Starlin Castro fielding error. After a mound visit, Lopez struck out Roberto Perez before getting lifted.

Adam Conley did allow one of the two inherited runners to score on a Tyler Naquin RBI-single, but the run, charged to Lopez, was unearned. Conley ended up striking out two in an inning of work. Drew Steckenrider faced the final two batters of the eighth without incident, and Sergio Romo pitched a perfect ninth, striking out Gonzalez in the bargain for his third save of the year.

Miami Marlins Rotation: Spreading the Wealth

With Lopez’ performance, four of the five pitchers in the Miami Marlins rotation have turned in a 70+ GameScore in the early going this season, with José Ureña the only abstainer.

Sandy Alcantara opened his season with an eight inning performance where he allowed four hits, zero walks, and struck out six. The Miami Marlins won that game by a 3-0 final score over the Colorado Rockies on March 31st.

Trevor Richards‘ signature performance was on April 10th, in a 2-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. In six innings of work, Richards allowed one hit and five walks for no runs while striking out seven.

Caleb Smith‘s day in the sun was just three days after Richards’. In the Miami Marlins 10-3 victory against the Philadelphia Phillies, Smith whiffed six and allowed one hit and three walks over six innings.

Going Deep

Jorge Alfaro went deep for the fourth time this year. The Miami Marlins have collected a total of 19 home runs this season, ranking 27th of the 30 major league teams. Although Alfaro leads the Marlins with his four, that is only good enough to tie for the 67th best home run total of the season throughout the major leagues.

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Walker and Castro Getting Hot

Neil Walker started the season by going three-for-17 through his first eight appearances. He’s 10-for-47 since then for an overall average of .208 coming into today’s contest versus the Indians. Today he went two-for-four to raise his average to .221.

Starlin Castro also collected multiple hits in the game, raising his seasonal average from .247 to .258. He’s hit .265 or better in eight of his nine full seasons, and more often than not reaches somewhere near the .280 mark year-in and year-out.

The Marlins get a second crack at the Tribe tomorrow early, with the first pitch at 1:10PM ET. Alcantara (1-2, 5.09) will try for his second win of the season.

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