Marlins Pitching Deserved More in Walk-Off Loss to Brewers

Miami held one of baseball’s best offenses in check for most of the night, but the Marlins could not turn a strong pitching effort into enough run support.

Sandy Alcantara throws against the Cleveland Guardians in the first inning at loanDepot Park. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

For most of Friday night, the Miami Marlins made the Milwaukee Brewers look beatable.

Their offense just never made them pay for it.

Miami held one of baseball’s best lineups to one run through nine innings, but the Marlins could not turn that pitching effort into enough support. Garrett Mitchell’s two-out walk-off single in the 10th gave Milwaukee a 2-1 win in a game Miami easily could have won.

Miami’s Pitching Kept the Game Within Reach

Pete Fairbanks throws during the ninth inning against the Seattle Mariners at loanDepot Park | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Milwaukee entered the second half with one of MLB’s most productive lineups, ranking fifth in the league in runs scored. The Brewers have built much of their success around contact and getting on base, but the Marlins kept the offense quiet for most of the night.

Sandy Alcantara gave Miami a great start. He allowed one run on three hits across six innings while striking out seven. The four walks meant that there was some traffic on the bases, but he was able to work out of trouble and hand the ball off to the bullpen to finish things out.

Calvin Faucher, Michael Petersen and Pete Fairbanks combined to keep the Brewers off the board from the seventh through the ninth, giving Miami every chance to steal a win.

The issue was the offense. Griffin Conine gave the Marlins their only run with a fifth-inning homer, turning on a full-count changeup located in the outer half of the plate and sending it out to right-center. Otto Lopez also continued his strong season with two more hits, raising his average to .336 after entering the night as MLB’s batting leader. Xavier Edwards added a hit and a stolen base, while Heriberto Hernandez also stole a bag.

But Miami never turned those moments into anything of note. The Marlins finished with seven hits, no walks and nine strikeouts. Kyle Stowers, Jacob Marsee and Joe Mack each came up empty in run-scoring chances, and Milwaukee’s bullpen threw five scoreless innings after Logan Henderson’s solid start.

The Marlins showed they can quiet Milwaukee’s offense, this is seomthing that the team should take solace in, as Milwaukee have been dominant this season thanks in large part to their dominant offense. But keeping a good team close is only part of the job. Eventually, Miami has to turn those pitching performances into wins. Friday night was a reminder that the Marlins are close enough to compete with teams like the Brewers, but the ability to execute against the best of the best is still lacking.