Jordan Yamamoto does everything right in a Marlins loss to the Braves

Rookie Jordan Yamamoto had perhaps his best performance on the mound on Saturday night. Unfortunately, the Miami Marlins could not get any runs across the plate in a 1-0 loss.

Jordan Yamamoto did everything he could to get the victory for the Miami Marlins on Friday night. It did not happen.

The team’s bats would not cooperate and despite the rookie’s efforts of six innings of scoreless baseball, Miami fell to the Atlanta Braves 1-0 at SunTrust Park in the first game of a three-game series this weekend. The Marlins continue to show a lack of run production where they have scored 11 runs in their last five games. The team also extended its losing streak to five games.

"“Making his fifth big league start, and first against Atlanta, Yamamoto tossed six shutout innings, yielding just two hits while striking out seven,” Joe Frisaro of MLB.com wrote. “And the biggest surprise of the night for the 23-year-old right-hander was the unveiling of his best fastball of the season, which topped out at 94.7 mph.”"

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The Marlins may have seen their “ace” on the mound, the player who wasn’t part of the conversation for a spot on the 25-man roster before the season started. Yamamoto continues to amaze the front office and coaching staff, remaining undefeated and continuing to drop his ERA to 1.24 despite two no-decisions since being called up from Double-A Jacksonville last month.

The bigger question the Marlins must answer is what does this team need to do to buy a run or two, which continues to plague them this season. This was yet another shutout of this ball club. While the pitching rotation continues to remain amongst one of the best in the National League, offensively this team is one of the worst.

The Marlins are hitting .239 as a team, which is 26th in the Majors. They are 29th in run scored, ahead of Detroit by a whopping two runs and last in home runs with 65, and it isn’t even close. This is a team that needs a shakeup of sorts. The Marlins are 21-23 in their last 44 games, which is progress after a 10-31 start to the regular season.

Yamamoto once again sees his efforts go for naught. The coaching staff and front office will now look to figure out the rotation heading into the All-Star break as Caleb Smith returns to face Atlanta tonight. Yamamoto figures to remain in the starting five. What Miami plans to do with Elieser Hernandez and Zach Gallen, who have also given this team solid innings of worth in the last month, remains a mystery.

"“He’s [Yamamoto] a guy who can add and subtract,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “Today, he had a little more fastball it looked like than normal. That really helps the subtract point.”"

Now the team concentrates on getting a much-needed victory with one of their best arms headed to the mound on Saturday.

Smith takes the mound for a 4:10 start after two appearances in Jacksonville for a rehab assignment. The lefty had been on the I.L. dealing with hip inflammation. He reached 83 pitches in his last start for the Jumbo Shrimp this week.

Miami will face the Braves left-hander Max Fried who is 9-3 this season with a 4.94 ERA and 90 strikeouts this season.