Trevor Richards Heroics Not Enough to Pull Out Miami Marlins

The Miami Marlins dropped a 1-0 decision to the Atlanta Braves on Saturday afternoon, with 9,771 in attendance at Marlins Park.

Trevor Richards (3-6, 3.31) put 60-of-95 pitches in the strike zone, and carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning. He posted a GameScore of 74, his best mark of the season so far. This, after he posted marks of 72 in each of his last two starts. Over these past three games, Richards has pitched 19 innings while allowing five hits and six walks. He’s also whiffed 18 over that span.

But Richards does not pitch in a vacuum, and requires a little run support to translate his 80-grade changeup into actual victories. The Miami Marlins opponent on the mound today, Julio Teheran (4-4, 3.03) was just as good as Richards at keeping his opponents befuddled. He allowed two hits and a walk over six innings, giving up no runs and striking out five batters.

The Marlins outhit the Braves, four-to-three, but the Braves got one across the plate against Richards in the seventh inning. Austin Riley opened the frame with a double, and moved to third on an Ozzie Albies fly out. He scampered home on a Tyler Flowers fly ball before Richards got Johan Camargo to pop out to end his night.

The Marlins were limited to just four hits, and lost their third contest in a row. Garrett Cooper went one-for-two with a pair of walks to lead the “offense.” Those were the only two walks issued by Atlanta pitching, against 10 strikeouts. Harold Ramirez collected a pinch hit, and Martin Prado and Jorge Alfaro each went one-for-four.

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The Marlins wasted a golden opportunity in the eighth inning. After Miguel Rojas lined out and Rosell Herrera struck out, Ramirez laced a double into left field. After stealing third base, reliever Luke Jackson walked Cooper on five pitches. Brian Anderson then grounded out on a bang-bang play at first base. Anderson was really booking it trying to get that run home, and the play was close enough for Don Mattingly to challenge. On review, the call was upheld, and the Marlins failed to score. They’ve now totaled only two runs over their past three contests. This, after scoring 108 over their previous 18. That’s six runs on average over the Fish’s 13-5 run.

The Marlins get one more crack at these Braves tomorrow at 1:10 PM EDT. Pablo Lopez (4-5, 4.52) will start opposite Max Fried (7-3, 3.68).

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