Miami Marlins 6, New York Mets 8: Bour Bombs, Bullpen Tanks

The Miami Marlins dropped an 8-6 decision to the New York Mets with a paid crowd of 6,516 at Marlins Park on Tuesday night.

Expectation

Caleb Smith got the start for the Miami Marlins. In his last start, he was pulled after walking six and allowing three runs in three innings in a 5-0 loss to the Phillies. This time around, he struck out seven and only walked one in five innings. He still allowed three runs, on five hits. This is what Twitter user Utleyy had to say about Smith early on:

Smith got 62-of-85 pitches over the plate, in stark contrast to his last outing. He put 40-of-77 pitches in the strike zone against the Phillies. His counterpart, Jacob deGrom, whiffed six in six frames and allowed four runs on seven hits and a walk. He placed 66-of-101 pitches in the zone.

The Mets started early. After Michael Conforto singled on the second pitch of the game, Wilmer Flores knocked him in with a one-out double to left field. Despite the trouble, Smith struck out the side in the inning. Asdrubal Cabrera (2) homered to left fielding the fourth inning to give the Mets a 2-0 lead.

Redemption

New York kept coming in the fifth. Amed Rosario hit a one out double then scored a batter later on Conforto’s single. The Marlins fought bravely back in the bottom of the inning. Yadiel Rivera and Derek Dietrich opened the inning with consecutive singles. Miguel Rojas, on the fifth pitch of the inning, singled off the glove of Todd Frazier to score Rivera to get Miami within two runs. Starlin Castro followed him with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-2. That’s when Justin Bour, batting just .154 coming into the plate appearance, smoked a two-run, opposite field home run, his first of the season. Miami had completed their comeback, and led New York, 4-3. Bour only hit two opposite field home runs in 2017, and matched that tonight. Also:

The Mets came back to tie it in the sixth, on a Juan Lagares sacrifice fly. Drew Steckenrider struck out the side on 11 pitches in the top of the seventh, then Bour hit his second oppo taco of the game, another two-run shot to give the Fish a late 6-4 lead.

Icarus

Kyle Barraclough came into the contest to pitch the eighth inning. Barraclough, who had a 2.81 career ERA and had allowed just seven home runs in 166 2/3 innings in that time, surrendered a pair of solo jacks. Flores (1) led off, then Cabrera (3) hit his second of the game to re-tie the contest at six.

Yoenis Cespedes, in the midst of a 1-for-18 slump, greeted Brad Ziegler (0-2) with the eventual game-winning one-out two-run double. Jeurys Familia came in to record the final three outs for the save, his sixth of the season.

A few things

Braxton Lee went hitless, striking out three times in four at bats. Despite that, he showed a lot of patience at the plate. He worked deGrom to a full count and required 11 pitches in his fourth inning strikeout.

Castro got a hit in his 16th consecutive game at Marlins Park, matching Christian Yelich’s all-time park record. Castro went two-for-four with an RBI and is now hitting .304 for the year.

Dietrich collected multiple hits for the fourth time this season, racking a pair of singles and drawing a walk. He’s second on the club with an .849 OPS.

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With Bour’s two homers, he moves his average up to the Mendoza line (.190).

Brian Anderson continues to collect base hits like a kid collecting baseball cards. He drew a walk and went two-for-three. He’s five at bats from losing his “prospect” status, which will officially signify his rookie season. Hypothetically, if Anderson for some reason stopped playing baseball all season before his 130th at bat, he would be a rookie next year instead. With 125 at bats, it seems unlikely.

Lewis Brinson stranded five runners and struck out once in four hitless at bats. He’s hitting just .149 this season. With 94 at bats to his credit, he’ll lose his prospect status with 36 more at bats.

Dietrich, Castro, and Anderson have combined for a .316 average this year. The rest of the team is hitting a collective .213.

Tonight’s loss guarantees that the Marlins will not win their first series of the season. They split with the Chicago Cubs, got swept in a short series versus the Boston Red Sox, and dropped two-of-three to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Tomorrow

In tomorrow’s game, the Marlins will give Jarlin Garcia a look. Garcia has a 1.80 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP this season, and has struck out eight in 10 relief innings. After Jose Urena and Odrisamer Despaigne, Garcia will be only the third non-rookie to make a start for the Marlins this year. The Mets still haven’t announced who they’ll have facing him.

Next: Marlins vs. Mets Preview

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