Defining moments of Marlins' latest meeting with division rival

MIAMI -- If the Braves-Marlins season series has taught us anything, it’s how small the margin for error is between a win and a loss.

In falling 6-3 to the Braves on Thursday at loanDepot park, Miami has dropped six of its seven games with Atlanta so far in 2023. These types of struggles against the Braves, the cream of the crop in the National League East since the Marlins played their inaugural season 30 years ago, are nothing new.

All-time record: 202-305
loanDepot park era: 72-133
Since 2018, when Atlanta began its stretch of consecutive division titles: 28-64

“When you play against a really good team, you've got to limit your mistakes -- whether it's what type of pitch you throw, or fielding, or the execution part,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “You’ve got to play pretty flawless to beat a team like that. Just didn't happen the last couple of days.”

Here are three moments that mattered in a close ballgame:

Booting the ball

With Garrett Cooper (inner ear infection) on the injured list, veteran Yuli Gurriel will be getting the bulk of the first-base reps in his absence. When Ronald Acuña Jr. popped up to right field to open the game, Gurriel (2021 AL Gold Glove winner) raced under it but dropped the ball. Two outs and three batters later, Sean Murphy produced an RBI double.

The Marlins entered Thursday with the ninth-most errors (18) and ranked 19th in Defensive Runs Saved (-1) in the Majors. They committed three errors in the series finale, though the other two didn’t prove to be costly outside of additional pitches Jesús Luzardo needed to throw. Miami starters already struggle to go deep in ballgames (4.89 innings per start, 25th in MLB).

“Any time they get on base, they're going to run, they're going to hit and run, put guys in motion, hit behind the runner, move them over,” said Luzardo, who pleaded to go out for the sixth and threw a career-high-tying 106 pitches. “They play baseball the right way, and I feel like it's just a gauntlet one through nine.

“They're real solid and real deep. They don't give you any breaks, which at the same time, it's good for us. I feel like if you want to be the best, you've got to play the best. We don't want any breaks, so we'll just be ready when we see them again.”

Not finding the right base

Following a second-inning leadoff walk to Marcell Ozuna, already unforgivable when it comes to pitching, Eddie Rosario doubled to left-center when Bryan De La Cruz threw to third rather than second. With two runners in scoring position and no outs, Kevin Pillar tied the game at 2 with a sacrifice fly and Ronald Acuña Jr. followed with an RBI single to give Atlanta the lead.

“That needs to go to second,” Schumaker said. “We need to keep the double play in order. We talked about it as soon as he came in. He thought he might have had a chance at Ozuna, but that's just a baseball play.”

Missing on opportunities

The first three Marlins reached in the fifth inning to cut the deficit to 4-3 and bring MLB's batting average leader, Luis Arraez (.424), to the plate with a pair of runners in scoring position and no outs. Arraez lifted a slider to left field, but third-base coach Jody Reed held Jon Berti (97th percentile sprint speed) with Rosario just 250 feet from home plate.

Gurriel flied out to shallow right, also keeping Berti at third. Rookie lefty Dylan Dodd intentionally walked Jean Segura to load the bases before Garrett Hampson lined out to second base to keep the deficit 4-3. Schumaker believes his lineup might’ve gotten too aggressive against Dodd.

“I know Berti's fast, but when you have the outfielder that's running in on a ball and then stays behind it and comes through the baseball, Rosario has got a good arm -- he's played right field in his career. It's not like he's got a below average arm. He's got a good arm.

“One out, probably take a chance. No out, doesn't make much sense with your four, five, six hitters behind them. We just couldn't get the job done.”

After the Braves tacked on two insurance runs in the ninth, Atlanta has outscored Miami 54-22 with a 19-7 homer advantage in the season series.

“In the end, you’ve got to compete with them, try to catch them,” Jorge Soler said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. “It's part of our job.”