Win over O's showcases early-season trends

MIAMI -- Less than an hour before the first pitch of the Marlins’ 3-0 win over the Orioles on Wednesday afternoon at loanDepot park, general manager Kim Ng provided her assessment of the ballclub through the season's first 16 games.

"As a team, I'm not sure that we've fired on all cylinders," Ng said. "In the first week, obviously, we had some issues, but we definitely showed better. But not quite there, not playing clean baseball. You definitely saw glimpses last week. In terms of individuals, I would say we've seen ups and downs for all of them. But I think that we are moving towards everybody finding their way."

Rookie Trevor Rogers went a career-high seven innings, while Miami did just enough on offense with a two-out, three-run rally in the fifth to finish out a 3-2 homestand.

With Wednesday’s victory, the Marlins improved to 8-9 after opening the 2021 slate 1-6. Below are some early-season trends that resurfaced in the finale and will be monitored on the three-city, 10-game trip that begins on Thursday in San Francisco.

.200 -- Winning percentage for the Marlins when not homering in a game. Wednesday marked just the second time in 10 instances this year that the club has been victorious without going deep. Miami has not hit a long ball in four straight games.

1.000 -- Save percentage in four chances for Yimi García, who took over the closer role from Anthony Bass several games into the season. He recorded a perfect ninth inning on 10 pitches. In ninth-inning save opportunities not given to García, Miami is 0-for-3.

3 -- Assists for Adam Duvall, who is tied with Charlie Blackmon for the MLB lead among outfielders. He threw out Austin Hays trying to stretch a single into a double in the third inning. Duvall, who is Miami's primary right fielder, has spent most of his eight-year career in left field.

"The play Adam makes in right field again, it's like crazy," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "I told him, 'I don't know who's put you in left your whole career, but you look like a right fielder.’"

7 -- Times Miguel Rojas has reached base in the No. 2 spot since Tuesday, when he took over the two-hole with Starling Marte on the injured list. Batting in the leadoff spot for the first time in the Majors, Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled in each of his first two at-bats on Wednesday. He also stole a base. The rookie leads all MLB second basemen with a 1.069 OPS.

Will this order be used more often?

“[Corey Dickerson’s] been good up there at the top,” Mattingly said. “Miggy probably with Marte out looks like he solidifies that hole a little bit. [We’ll] kind of stay with that. In general, [bench coach James Rowson] and I talk about the lineups and different mix and match, so we'll see what we do up top.”

12.68 -- Strikeouts per nine innings for Rogers so far this season. That mark is the highest among all Major League left-handed starters. He fanned eight on Wednesday and is at a historic pace on the club level.

Rogers became the first Marlins pitcher to go seven innings in 2021. He also has both victories for Miami starting pitchers this year, and he opened both shutouts on the season.

"He’s been difficult on every team he’s faced so far, and you can see why," Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. "It’s a left-hander who throws from a tough angle, the ball jumps out of his hand. It’s mid 90s, but it plays up and he has command and good offspeed stuff. He was attacking the strike zone on us. You saw a lot of early outs. He had really, really good stuff today, and we knew that going in."

34 -- Two-out RBIs this season, including three in Wednesday's win thanks to Jesús Aguilar's two-run double and Duvall's RBI single. The club's tally entering the finale ranked third in the NL.

In six of their nine losses, the Marlins have scored two or fewer runs. In their eight wins, they are averaging 6.75 runs per game, which includes outbursts of 12 and 14 runs.

“In terms of the offense, I think that we knew that there were going to be a lot of close games that we were going to be battling each and every day, and I think that's what we've seen so far,” Ng said. “But [also] in terms of the offense, there are times where you'll see them firing on all cylinders and we'll score 12 runs, we'll score seven runs. And there are other times where we'll struggle a little bit, but I think that's what you're seeing across the board in terms of all the other big league clubs."