First-place Marlins can’t get back on track against deGrom, drop first series to Mets

The Miami Marlins’ improbable season-opening run was only a swing away from taking perhaps its most unlikely turn yet. It was the second inning Sunday against the New York Mets and the Marlins had the bases loaded with just one out in a still-scoreless game against Jacob deGrom, winner of back-to-back National League Cy Young Awards, at Citi Field. The Mets coaching staff made a trip to the mound to inspect a blister on the starting pitcher’s right middle finger. Miami, the unlikely leader in the NL East with 18 players missing because of COVID-19, had a prime opportunity to grab yet another win against one of the best starters in MLB.

It did not matter to deGrom. He struck out Monte Harrison on five pitches and got Jonathan Villar to ground out. The Marlins’ best opportunity to pounce on deGrom and secure another series win in New York was gone. Instead, the Mets struck first in the third and hung on to win 4-2.

“Blister or not, it’s still 98-99 with the slider,” manager Don Mattingly said, “so, obviously at the time, you think you don’t want to let this guy off the hook.”

Still, it wasn’t the only opportunity for Miami (7-3) in the finale of a three-game series in New York. The Marlins put a runner on base in every single inning. They quickly ran up deGrom’s pitch count and chased the star pitcher from the game after just five innings. Miami ultimately left 10 runners on base and struck just once on a two-run home run by Jesus Aguilar in the fifth inning.

When they ran off six straight games before losing to the Mets (7-9) on Saturday, the Marlins did so with timely hits and few wasted chances. On Sunday, they lost two straight for the first time in 2020 and dropped their first series of the year because of those blown opportunities.

“We had guys out there, we just didn’t get the big hit, but, honestly, they had the same thing,” Mattingly said. “Both teams could’ve scored a ton of runs if they had some big hits.”

Pablo Lopez, who went five scoreless his first start of the season Tuesday, wasn’t nearly as sharp Sunday. The starting pitcher cruised through two innings, then found trouble in the third. He gave up a leadoff single to shortstop Andres Gimenez, then issued back-to-back walks to catcher Tomas Nido and outfielder Brandon Nimmo on nine pitches.

Lopez (1-1) didn’t give up another hit, but Gimenez scored on a groundout and Nido scored on an error by outfielder Corey Dickerson. In the fourth, Lopez gave up another run after Gimenez hit a one-out double and scored on a single by Nimmo.

In five innings, the right-handed pitcher allowed two earned runs on five hits and four walks with four strikeouts. He let runners on base in every inning but the first.

“I tried to, even in those situations, really execute my pitches and make sure I kept myself under composure,” Lopez said, “and just give my team a chance.”

As many chances as it managed in the later innings, Miami’s best still came against deGrom (2-0) in the second.

Brian Anderson led off with a four-pitch walk. Outfielder Matt Joyce did the same. With one out, Eddy Alvarez, a graduate of Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, ripped a grounder at Gimenez for an infield single and his first career hit. Without hitting a ball out of the infield, the Marlins loaded the bases against deGrom and a trainer came to check on the Cy Young hopeful.

He stayed in the game even as New York relief pitcher Paul Sewald warmed up and he shut down the Marlins’ rally. His pitch count, though, was climbing, up to 48 after two innings.

“He’s one of the best in the game, point blank,” said Alvarez, who added another infield single in the fourth and a double in the eighth. “Even if he seemed like he was struggling, I knew that our mindset was ready to produce and we put ourselves in good situations.”

Miami finally cracked him in the fifth. Aguilar came to the plate two batters later with two outs and a runner on third, and DeGrom pumped a 97-mph fastball at the top of the zone. The first baseman jump on the first pitch of the at-bat, and the ball towered out to left field and landed over the fence, trimming the deficit to 3-2.

DeGrom’s day was done once he finished the inning. The Marlins forced the righty into 98 pitches in just five innings, they just couldn’t land the crushing blow.

“Our guys kept getting guys out there,” Mattingly said. “We just didn’t get the big hit.”