MIAMI -- Trevor Rogers never quit.

Whether it was battling through injuries a year ago or on the mound against the Rangers in Miami's 6-0 loss at loanDepot park on Sunday, the left-handed pitcher refused to give up whenever adversity presented itself. His resilient mindset helped him turn in a season-high six innings, reaching that mark for the first time in over a year.

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​​“When things don’t go your way early, you’ve just got to put your head down and keep going,” Rogers said. “It’s nine innings for a reason and not one. I was really happy to finally get through six innings today. I looked at my pitch count and I had [87] pitches. If I had more innings under my belt I probably could’ve gone out there for one more. You just can’t quit.”

Entering Sunday, Rogers had pitched at least five innings in eight of his previous 11 starts this season, but had not been able to break through and complete six frames. A determined Rogers overcame a tough first inning, ultimately allowing four runs on six hits while striking out three and walking a pair.

“I thought the first-pitch-strike percentage was not ideal, probably wants to get better at that,” manager Skip Schumaker said after Rogers fell behind 14 of the 25 batters he faced. “But after the first inning, [he] really settled in and gave us a chance to win. … Even in the first inning, they came out swinging. Some ground balls that got through early but other than that, I thought he did really [well].”

Texas strung together four singles to open the game, with RBI base hits from Robbie Grossman and Adolis García leading the way in a three-run first inning for the defending champs. Rogers then talked with his catcher, Nick Fortes, and the chat buoyed him after a tough first inning.

“I wouldn’t even say it was [a] struggle, just probably bad luck,” Rogers said. “Nick and I came into the dugout after that inning and he said, ‘You’re executing all your pitches and putting them where you want. They just found holes.’ It was just really unlucky. Even García’s soft line drive to the outfield, I missed his barrel and he just pushed it out there. Goes to show you how strong he is. I was executing all my pitches. It just didn’t go my way.”

Rogers settled in after the first, allowing just one hit and two walks over the next four innings.

“At that point it was just all about survive and advance and give my team every opportunity to stay in the ballgame and get early contact,” Rogers said. “We kind of saw that they were really aggressive on the fastball, so we went really two-seam, changeup heavy today just trying to get the ball on the ground and had a lot of success.”

The lefty allowed just two hits after the opening frame, but the final hit was a big one. Garcia smacked a 1-0 fastball from Rogers 395 feet to left-center for a solo homer to lead off the sixth. Following the homer, Rogers retired the next three batters in order to get through six innings for the first time since April 14, 2023.

“I was beating myself up pretty bad about it and [pitching coach] Mel [Stottlemyre Jr.] came over after my outing and I didn’t realize I only gave up two hits after that first inning,” Rogers said. “He kind of put things into perspective. I did my job. That first inning just didn’t go my way. He kind of put it in a positive mindset.”

Offensively, the Marlins had a tough time with Rangers starter Andrew Heaney. The lefty allowed four hits and struck out seven over six scoreless innings against his former team, leading the way on the mound to shut out the Marlins for the second day in a row.

The Rangers added a pair of runs in the ninth to close out the series, but the Marlins saw their starter take another step toward regaining the form that made him an All-Star in 2021.

“That is a really good offensive ball club over there and they’re defending champs for a reason,” Rogers said. “Only limiting them to hits after that first inning, besides that García homer, I did a really good job and I was really happy with that.”