Nathan Eovaldi Leads Miami Marlins to Win Amidst Lackluster Offense

Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

What the Marlins should take away from tonight’s series opener isn’t just the shutout win of 4-0 against Philadelphia, but the promising effort by Nathan Eovaldi. He was sparkling, and his pitching line reflects that. The power righty went 7 ⅔ innings with 3 hits, 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. Overall, the Phillies were flummoxed most of the game, earning just one more hit in the top of the ninth. The 7 ⅓ innings are especially notable. In 4 of the last 5 games, Miami starters haven’t made it past the 5th inning, including Eovaldi who only lasted 5 in his last start. The turnaround since then is a welcome sight, especially as the young rotation has begun to suffer from short starts lately.

The bottom of the first started with a troubled Roy Halladay. The ailing pitcher was removed from the game due to arm fatigue, after just 16 pitches. The 8 time all star has been trying to work his way back from arthroscopic shoulder surgery. It was a bullpen parade for the Phillies after that. Offensively, the game was same old, same old. Miami went 2-13 with runners in scoring position, and had 13 runners left on base. Just 9 hits, and their first run of the game came on a bases loaded walk.

The Marlins couldn’t do anything with a lead-off double from Adeiny Hechavarria in the 2nd. After back to back singles from Ed Lucas and Christian Yelich the following inning, no one could drive them home. And so on. The only bottom half that didn’t feature a Marlins baserunner was a 1-2-3 4th. The 8th was more productive. Placido Polanco doubled, and after being ignored at second went ahead and stole third. Two walks followed, and RISP star Donovan Solano drove in the second run of the game. Lucas followed suit and picked up an RBI on a single, and Yelich managed a bases loaded sac fly to round out the scoring.

Steve Cishek came in to close the deal. His ninth inning was marred by a Dominic Brown single, but he continued his impressive streak of consecutive saves with his 28th in a row. The win brings the ballclub to an abysmal 58-99 record, but at this point in the season, any win is exactly that. The division rivals will face off tomorrow at 7:10 ET. Henderson Alvarez will take the ball for the fish.

Extras:

• Nate Eovaldi’s line: 7.2IP  3H  0R  0ER  2BB  5SO
• Cishek earned his 33rd save of the season, maintaining a 94% success rate. His 28th save in a row gives him the club record, one better than Todd Jones’ streak from 2005.
• Donovan Solano continues to dominate when batting with runners in scoring position. His OPS with RISP was an incredible .780 coming into tonight’s game.