Luzardo 'competes' in nice bounce-back effort

ANAHEIM -- Marlins left-hander Jesús Luzardo has shown flashes of brilliance over the course of his still-young career, tempered occasionally by bouts of inconsistency that have to this point held him back from fully realizing the promise he’s exhibited on his best days.

With Miami beginning a road trip through San Francisco and Colorado 2-5, most recently featuring a crushing walk-off loss at Coors Field, the club wanted to begin this new series with the Angels on a strong note.

Tasked with facing a lineup headlined by Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani in Friday’s opener at Angel Stadium, Luzardo would have to demonstrate his ability to “compete” on the mound -- something Marlins manager Skip Schumaker emphasized pregame.

And for five solid innings, Luzardo did just that. Though his pitch count got away from him -- 91 pitches prompted Schumaker to go to the bullpen to begin the sixth -- Luzardo rose to the occasion, keeping the Angels’ potent bats at bay just enough in the Marlins' 6-2 win.

On the same mound that saw Luzardo notch a career-high 12 strikeouts in a start in April 2022, the southpaw held Trout and Ohtani a combined 1-for-6, with three strikeouts and a double play between them. Luzardo faced 21 batters and secured first-pitch strikes to 11 of them, generating 12 whiffs on his slider, the final pitch in six of his seven strikeouts.

“His slider was real tonight," said Schumaker. "He made some really good hitters look bad."

Coming on the heels of his toughest outing of the season (six earned runs in five innings in San Francisco on Sunday), Luzardo put together the bounce-back start he needed.

“He did a really good job of navigating through some really tough innings,” added Schumaker. “I felt like he was going to go six or seven today, but he got into some deep counts and it kind of cost him there.”

Luzardo credited his success to the rapport he had with catcher Nick Fortes, a chemistry that paid off when the pair clamped down on an attempted Angels rally in the second inning, striking out Neto to prevent any damage.

Luzardo has now logged 11 innings at Angel Stadium in his career over three games (two starts), scattering 10 hits, allowing just two earned runs and two walks while striking out 21.

What is it about this ballpark that makes him pitch so well?

“Yeah, I don't know,” said Luzardo. “I feel even back in my time with Oakland, I’ve pitched well here, and I don't know what it is. But I do like to pitch here, the mound just feels comfortable.”

It didn’t hurt Luzardo’s fortune that the offense behind him pounded out a season-high 16 hits.

Slugger Jorge Soler mashed his 16th homer of the season, which in itself is notable as he became the first Marlin to homer in four consecutive games since Justin Bour in 2017 and is second only to the Mets’ Pete Alonso (19) for the most in the Majors this season -- but something special seems to happen when Soler bats in a Luzardo start.

Soler has now homered in eight of Luzardo’s 11 starts this season. In those games, Soler is hitting .467 (21-for-45), with 10 homers and 22 RBIs.

Luzardo said that he and Soler joke about their unexpected partnership.

“I told him, ‘Save one for me,’ and he said, ‘I got you.’ And then after he hit it today, he's like, ‘I told you I got you,’ so I told him we're getting In-N-Out tomorrow, and you can get however many Double-Doubles you want.”

Soler said he’s looking forward to the burgers, and he credited his power show at the plate to a bit of patience and waiting for his pitch.

It all added up to a much-needed win on Friday, a positive swing on what’s been an otherwise challenging road trip thus far.

Bryan De La Cruz, who notched four hits for the second time in five games and drilled a key two-run homer in the seventh, spoke of the vibe of an offense firing on all cylinders -- despite the absence of a few key hitters (Jazz Chisholm, Avisaíl García, and Jesús Sánchez).

“What we have to do is pretty much stay more on the up than the down in this situation,” said De La Cruz through team interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. “This is Game 52 already, so we’ve just got to set that tone and try to win more games.”