Hot Marlins cooled by Pittsburgh in opener

MIAMI -- Monday marked the beginning of a seven-game homestand to close out the first half for the Marlins, who had gone 21-15 since June 2 to join the National League Wild Card race.

Following a series split with the NL East-leading Mets and before hosting the playoff hopeful Phillies, the Marlins could gain ground facing rebuilding clubs in 12 of their next 15 games entering Monday.

Miami came out flat in the first game, dropping the opener of a four-game series with Pittsburgh, 5-1, at loanDepot park. The Pirates improved to 17-9 (.654) against the Marlins since the start of 2017 -- their best win percentage against any opponent they’ve played at least 10 times.

Last June, Pittsburgh was a stop during a season-changing trip that also went through Boston twice and Buffalo, N.Y., to face the Blue Jays. The Marlins lost three of four games to a Bucs club that entered the series 14 games below .500, like the one that came to town for Monday’s series opener. This one, however, has gone 6-2 vs. the Yankees and Dodgers in 2022.

“You take every team seriously and you get ready to play,” said manager Don Mattingly, who had called the young Pirates a dangerous club hours earlier. “There are some natural pitfalls in your schedule that happen, human-nature wise. But that's just something that you fight, and you have to fight, but it happens for everybody. Every team has different sections like that.

“You have to get ready to play, and you've got to try to win. You've got to find a way to win a game, and that's where we're at, and that's where we'll stay. We have to find ways to win games every night.”

Opposing a lineup without 2021 All-Star Bryan Reynolds or No. 19 prospect Oneil Cruz, Trevor Rogers recorded an out in the sixth inning for just the third time this season and the first since May 14. But Rogers put the Marlins in an early hole when Diego Castillo blooped an 0-2 slider to center for a two-run single.

A developing third pitch to his arsenal, Rogers threw it as many times as his changeup on Monday and recorded seven whiffs on it -- equal to the combined total of his four-seamer and his changeup. Castillo’s knock was the only hit off it.

“It was a tough one,” said Rogers, whose 5.42 ERA is the sixth highest among NL pitchers with at least 50 innings. “I thought I executed a pretty decent slider in a good area, and he just hit a little blooper, so just tip your cap, really. Pretty much after that point, I was set on just trying to make pitches. Just try and get in the zone as much as I can. If they hit it first pitch and they get a quick out, so be it, so I was just trying to get early contact from that point on.”

Miami’s offense, which managed just six runs over 20 innings in its final two games in New York, stayed quiet against right-hander Mitch Keller. He went a career-high seven frames, stymying the Marlins with his breaking pitches.

Overall, the club left seven on base, going 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position. Avisaíl García, who grounded into a double play to end the first, drove in the lone run with a single in the sixth.

“It was unbelievable,” former Marlin Jake Marisnick said of Keller. “I was watching from center field and his slider was disgusting tonight. He was locating well. He was working the corners."

The Marlins will look to bounce back on Tuesday as the Pirates go with a bullpen game. Over the past week or so, Mattingly has said his ballclub needs to be more consistent. Miami has to win more series and be less streaky if it wants to be taken seriously in the playoff hunt.

“Where we're at at this point, just to be able to continue momentum, continue to play well series to series and keep moving,” Mattingly said.