Miami Marlins have no answers for Spencer Strider in blowout loss to Atlanta Braves
Jean Segura broke up Spencer Strider’s no-hitter bid with a one-out single in the eighth inning, but little else went right for the Miami Marlins in their 11-0 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Monday at Truist Park to begin a four-game series.
Miami (12-11) was shut out for the second time this season and struck out 13 times against Strider, who was dominant over eight innings of work.
“He made it really tough on our guys,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “I was getting nervous for a minute there that he was gonna go the distance and no-hit us because we just didn’t put too many good swings on him.”
Just how good was Strider? He threw 101 pitches over his eight innings, with 81 going for strikes. Miami swung at 65 of his pitches. They missed 31 times — 17 whiffs against 40 four-seam fastballs, 14 whiffs against 25 sliders.
The fastball topped at 99.2 mph, while the slider averaged 83.4 mph with 41 inches of vertical break.
“We had a good game plan and good approach. He’s just a good pitcher,” Schumaker said. “He just had a dominant outing right there and sometimes you run into guys like that. ... That’s a different type of fastball, just different stuff. It felt like you’re facing a closer for eight innings. Credit to him. He’s getting better and better. He’s making really good hitters look bad right now. Sometimes, again, you run into really good pitchers.”
Strider, 24, retired the first 18 batters he faced before Jazz Chisholm Jr. reached first to lead off the seventh inning on a fielding error from two-time Gold Glove Award winner Matt Olson to break up the perfect game.
One inning later, it was Segura floating a low slider into shallow left-center field for Miami’s first hit. Jon Berti followed with a single through the left side on the following at-bat but both were stranded when Strider struck out Jacob Stallings and Garrett Hampson to end the frame.
“He was attacking and knows how to use his stuff,” Berti said. “It just felt like, especially with two strikes, it seemed like he made it even more difficult. Made really good pitches out on the edges. Any time a guy like that’s not missing too much over the plate with that kind of stuff, it’s going to be a tough night.”
“He was just in that rhythm tonight. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get him out of it until it was too late.”
Atlanta (15-8), which entered Monday on a four-game losing streak, gave Strider plenty of run support. The Braves scored their first eight runs via five home runs — a Sean Murphy solo shot in the first, two from Sam Hilliard (a two-run homer in the third and a solo shot in the sixth), a two-run home run from Eddie Rosario in the fifth and a two-run home run from Austin Riley in the sixth — before Ozzie Albies hit a three-run triple in the eighth.
The first two home runs came off Edward Cabrera, who pitched just 4 1/3 innings and was checked out by a team trainer in the fourth inning with a potential leg injury.
Rosario’s home run was against Steven Okert, who relieved Cabrera in the fifth inning.
The final two home runs (and the Albies triple) came against Sean Nolin, who the Marlins added to the active roster prior to the game to be a long reliever.
