Rookie Brash experiencing 'growing pains'

MIAMI -- It did not take the Marlins long to get to Matt Brash on Friday.

Brash was out after just two innings at loanDepot park. The Marlins built a large lead against the Mariners’ hard-throwing rookie and eventually won the opener of the three-game series 8-6.

Seattle has now lost its past three games in the Sunshine State after dropping a pair of one-run games against Tampa Bay before heading to Miami.

The Marlins led 8-3 after three innings, and the score stayed that way until the top of the ninth, when the Mariners put the potential tying run at the plate -- only to see Ty France ground out to the shortstop to end the rally and the game.

Brash (1-2) got off to a great start, striking out Jazz Chisholm Jr. to kick off his night.

It did not last long.

Jesús Aguilar, the next batter, reached on an infield single, then scored on a mammoth home run to left-center from Jorge Soler.

Soler worked the count to 3-1 and crushed a 96.5-mph fastball.

“When I made contact, it felt as if I didn’t hit anything,’’ Soler said. “When I saw it in the air, I said, ‘Wow, that one is gone.’”

It may have been that big blast -- it was projected at 468 feet for the third-longest home run by anyone in MLB this season -- that got to Brash.

He said that was not the case.

“I will be back and be better,” Brash said. “It is a learning experience every day here. I’m taking it all in. … I shook it off but I let that second inning spiral out of control and I cannot let that happen. I’ll work on some stuff in the bullpen this week and get right back at it.”

Down 2-0, Seattle came back in the second and scored three runs off a two-out double Luis Torrens smacked off the center-field wall to take the lead 3-2.

Only the Marlins put up four in the second, and Brash’s night was done.

In that second, Miami loaded the bases to lead things off with Jacob Stallings’ dribbler to third bringing in a run. Three more runs were driven in off hard singles.

The line: Two innings, six runs (all earned) off seven hits with a home run, three walks and three strikeouts. Brash threw 57 pitches.

Did manager Scott Servais think about bringing him back for the third?

“He threw like 35 or 38 pitches in that second inning and he is a very young player,” Servais said. “If it was a veteran guy out there, yeah, I would have put him back out there. He has a lot of baseball to pitch for us this year. Move on down the road. Tonight wasn’t his night, and he’ll get the ball back in five days.”

It was the shortest outing of his short big league career.

“My body felt good, my stuff felt good, but I just didn’t execute,’’ Brash said. “I put myself in bad counts, and there are some good hitters who got me.”

Brash has been dazzling at times for the Mariners, most memorably taking a no-hitter into the sixth in his T-Mobile Park debut April 17.

His fourth start was not something he may want to reflect on although it could be a good learning experience for the 23-year-old.

“He made some mistakes in the middle of the plate,” Servais said. “No matter how good your stuff is in this league, you can get away with it once in a while -- especially as hard as he throws, and the breaking ball is good. …

“Growing pains. It happens with young players. We’ll continue to stick with him. He’s learning a lot and will benefit from this down the road.”