Luzardo's night changes in the 'blink of an eye' in loss

MIAMI -- You know what they say about real estate: The most important factors concerning the desirability of a property are location, location, location. The same could be said for pitching.

Marlins left-hander Jesús Luzardo witnessed that firsthand in Tuesday night’s 9-5 loss to the Rays at loanDepot park. After going 14-13 in May, Miami has dropped its first three games to open June.

Luzardo surrendered a career-high nine runs on nine hits over 4 1/3 innings. He struck out two and walked two, making just the eighth time -- and first since Aug. 11, 2023 (seven earned runs in 3 1/3 innings against the Yankees) -- that Luzardo fanned two or fewer batters in a start.

“This is the big leagues, and I've said it before to myself and to the younger guys, it happens quick. And that's a prime example,” Luzardo said. “[I] felt like I was cruising the first three [innings], felt amazing, and just the fourth and the fifth happened so fast -- it felt like a blink of an eye -- and they put up nine runs. Again, like I said, it's frustrating, but it is what it is, and there's nothing I could do to change it. So I just have to move forward and get better.”

It was a shocking turn of events after Luzardo was staked to a 3-0 lead and required just 35 pitches to dominate through the first three frames. His only baserunner was Randy Arozarena following his one-out single in the first.

But things began to unravel in the go-ahead four-run fourth. Luzardo opened the 30-pitch frame with a four-pitch walk to Arozarena. He later hung a slider to Brandon Lowe, who kept it fair down the right-field line for a three-run homer. Jose Siri would add an RBI double.

In a five-run fifth, Luzardo gave up a two-run single to Isaac Paredes and a two-run double to Lowe to end his outing. An inherited runner would score on Amed Rosario’s RBI single.

“I think we got the ball up a little bit more on him,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “He's tough. He's got pretty electric stuff. But he left some balls over the plate that it seemed like we were ready to hit. I mean, B-Lowe, the approach that he had -- he adjusted, got off the fastball, it looked like. Was ready for the slider. And that was probably the biggest hit of the game to get us back in it."

Entering the series opener, Luzardo had allowed just seven total runs across 31 2/3 innings for a 1.99 ERA in his last five starts. Four of those were quality starts. During that span, he permitted just three extra-base hits -- as many as Tampa Bay tallied against him on Tuesday.

Take a look at the pitch location for each of the nine hits Luzardo allowed:

• Five on the slider
• Three on the four-seamer
• One on the changeup

What do they all have in common? Getting too much of the plate.

Luzardo had allowed just seven hits against his slider all season. His last time out, batters were hitless in seven at-bats that ended on the pitch.

“Couple walks, leadoff walk hurt him,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “[He] didn't get the swing and miss with the changeup. I think that was probably the difference maker today. [He] got beat on some middle-middle sliders that probably cost him as well. He didn't get the fastball at the top enough when he was trying to, just wasn't executing at the top.”

Luzardo, whose return from the injured list alongside fellow southpaw Braxton Garrett stabilized the pitching staff in mid-May, was disappointed he couldn’t stop his start from snowballing. It’ll be a while before he takes the mound again and can make up for it.

Pregame, Schumaker said he intended to use the scheduled off-days (Thursday and Monday) as a way to give the starters additional rest. That means Luzardo won’t pitch again until Tuesday, when the Marlins open a trip against the Mets at Citi Field.

“I know we have a couple off-days mixed in, so it'll be about a week, but it gives you some time to kind of digest it and move on from it,” Luzardo said. “I like to think that I’ve already moved on from it. It is what it is, like I said, but obviously tomorrow come in, study a little bit more, fix what I need to fix and then, like I said, move on.”