Behind Bellozo, 'pen & key DP, Marlins close trip on high note

NEW YORK -- After two days of volatile, truncated starts from the Marlins’ rotation and quiet showcases from the offense, the club found itself in need of a momentum-shifting event to avoid getting swept by the Mets. And though it wasn’t the relaxing send-off Miami likely would have preferred, the players and coaching staff certainly won’t be complaining about a positive result.

It took another solid start from Valente Bellozo, a shutdown performance from the relief corps and a little bit of offensive good fortune for the Marlins to escape Citi Field with a 3-2 win on Sunday, ending the three-game set on a high note. A neutral observer wouldn’t call the performance flawless -- Miami was picked off on the basepaths three times in the afternoon -- but Derek Hill’s clutch RBI single in the eighth inning proved to be the final difference maker.

And, judging by the way reliever Calvin Faucher and the Marlins' defense burst with shouts and fist pumps at the final out, it meant just as much as any other victory.

“I think the reaction after the game shows you that these guys still really care,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “You would think that we’re in the middle of a playoff push the way that everybody reacted after the big strikeout to end the game, and that’s what you’re still striving for.”

Bellozo’s outing almost got off to a rough start from the very outset when Pete Alonso crushed a fly ball to the center-field wall with two runners on in the first inning. Hill ranged back on the ball -- which had a hit probability of .930 off the bat -- and flagged it down before crashing into the wall. Knowing that Mets third baseman Mark Vientos was tagging from second base, Hill flipped the ball to right fielder Jesús Sánchez, who started a perfect relay to nab Vientos at home to end the inning.

It was the first time that a 8-9-4-2 double play has occurred in MLB since 1900, per the Elias Sports Bureau.

“Really nice play," Bellozo said. "Maybe the relay of the year."

“Unbelievable catch, and the fact Sánchez was standing right behind him in case he didn’t make the catch says a lot,” Schumaker said. “ … Not watching the play unfold but being behind him just in case he didn’t catch it. … Making the throw to [Otto] Lopez, then understanding that he’s going to potentially throw a one hop. There’s a lot of things that had to happen perfectly.”

From there, Bellozo settled down, even when admitting that he didn’t have a complete feel of his full arsenal. His velocity on all his pitches was down, and the average exit velocity against him was 96.7 mph, way up from his mark so far this season (91.8 mph).

And yet, Bellozo embarked upon a second consecutive impressive start against a lineup stocked with All-Star talent. The 24-year-old filled the zone -- 50 of his 83 pitches were strikes -- and was unafraid to challenge the Mets at every turn. It’s the type of outing that Miami has craved this past weekend, fighting to give the team quality length. He forced flyouts to extend his league-leading scoreless streak to 17 1/3 consecutive innings until it was snapped by an RBI single by Francisco Lindor in the fifth, when the switch-hitter dug a changeup out of the dirt and looped it into the outfield.

“Bellozo was fantastic today, once again throwing a lot of strikes, keeping them off balance, getting through a really tough lineup,” Schumaker said. “Not sending him out to face the lineup the third time is probably a decision I could go back and forth … but he’s been so good that it didn’t make sense to try the bullpen that early.”

“It’s a tough start, I think we fought really good with a tough lineup,” Bellozo said. “I think we kept the team in a winning position.”

Bellozo’s lone mistake -- a middle-middle change-up that Brandon Nimmo hit for a solo blast in the sixth -- led to him getting pulled with one out in the inning, having allowed just two runs on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts over those 5 1/3 innings. From there, it was in the hands of Jesus Tinoco, Andrew Nardi, Declan Cronin and Faucher, who expertly navigated the final 3 2/3 innings of the finale.

The quartet logged eight strikeouts, allowing just two hits and two walks. It was a brilliant breath of fresh air for the bullpen, as Schumaker was able to play the matchup game and get his high-leverage arms into positions to succeed. And that they did.

“It [begins] with the starting pitching, we didn’t have to go to the bullpen in the third or fourth inning, right?” Schumaker said as celebratory whistles carried down the hallway from the Marlins’ clubhouse. “Getting into the sixth inning gives us a chance to start matching up a little bit better. … But overall, bullpen was good, took good at-bats, just a pretty clean game.”