Luzardo's start turns sour after 2-homer inning

CLEVELAND -- On April 17, Jesús Luzardo had a strong start against the Giants up until he allowed a two-out run-scoring double in the third inning.

That bad luck lingered Sunday, as Luzardo’s once-strong start against the Guardians took a nose dive in the third inning when he gave up back-to-back home runs to José Ramírez and Josh Bell in an eventual 7-4 loss to Cleveland in the finale of the three-game series.

“In the last game against the Giants, I felt like they worked the counts, and I couldn’t put anyone away, and it was the same story again today,” Luzardo said. “It’s more being able to make the right pitch and put people away, because that would have saved me about 20 pitches there.”

Through the first two innings of the game, Luzardo looked like the budding ace he was becoming last season, as he only allowed one hit against Cleveland’s lineup the first time around while recording four strikeouts.

That changed in the third inning. After retiring No. 9 hitter Myles Straw and leadoff man Steven Kwan for the first two outs, Luzardo hung a slider to Amed Rosario that was hit the other way for a triple. That set up a six-pitch battle with Ramírez, ending with the infielder shooting a sinker 424 feet to Progressive Field’s bleachers in left-center field.

Luzardo followed that up by giving up a home run to Bell on a slider that caught too much of the plate.

“They just hit some balls down in the zone a little bit better,” Luzardo said. “The pitch to Ramírez was unacceptable, the pitch to Bell I didn’t think was too bad, but the Rosario one was bad. I just have to be better. I feel like I probably made some pitches that helped them out a little bit, but I just need to keep working.”

In the team’s doubleheader on Saturday, Miami got strong starts from Devin Smeltzer and Braxton Garrett, both of whom were able to shut down Cleveland’s offense by limiting hard contact. That wasn’t the case for Luzardo, as the Guardians managed to put five balls in play off him with an exit velocity over 95 mph.

“I think he just struggled with generating any weak contact,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “They had a lot of deep counts; he couldn’t put anybody away. It all just kind of added up. When that happens, he’s only going to go four or five innings. Nothing new, we just need to throw more strikes.”

The Marlins bullpen struggled for the first time in the series as well, as the Guardians were able to record three runs (two earned) off reliever George Soriano, who was making his first appearance since this past Wednesday. After getting two runs in the seventh inning on a Ramírez sac fly and an error by Nick Fortes, Cleveland added another run in the eighth inning on Ramírez's second RBI hit of the day.

“[Soriano] threw strikes … I thought he threw the ball well,” Schumaker said. “He kept us in the game for a minute.”

Those runs became even more important in the eighth inning when Avisaíl García continued his hot streak with a booming three-run home run off James Karinchak in the seventh inning to cut Cleveland’s lead to 6-4. While García is only batting .164 on the season, he’ll leave Cleveland with four more hard-hit balls (exit velocity over 95 mph) under his belt.

“It feels good,” García said. “I’ve been working hard to get my timing right. There’s no doubt that I feel better. I’ve just got to keep working.”

Schumaker said that the home run was part of a change that García had been working through with the Marlins’ coaching staff.

“He made an adjustment with our hitting crew and got a little bit wider [in his stance] and feels a little stronger,” Schumaker said. “He hit the ball hard the other day; he’s building and is on the right track.”

On the other end, the Marlins were shut down by Cleveland starter Logan Allen, a Florida native who played college baseball at Florida International University. Allen allowed one run over six innings with eight strikeouts in his Major League debut.

“His split was really good, and he threw that fastball at the top of the zone,” Schumaker said. “He threw strikes and worked quick. Really impressive debut for the young guy.”