MIAMI — The highlight of top pitcher prospect Edward Cabrera’s third Miami Marlins start came when he was in the batter’s box.
With a runner on first in the second inning and an 0-1 count, Cabrera showed bunt to New York Mets pitcher Carlos Carrasco before pulling back and swinging away at a four-seam fastball. Cabrera roped the pitch 102.5 mph down the left-field line for a game-tying RBI double, his first career MLB hit.
The rest of his outing? Yeah. Cabrera will likely want to forget this one. His command was erratic from the first pitch Tuesday. He didn’t even make it through the third inning of the 9-4 loss.
Cabrera’s final line: Four earned runs on one hit, four walks and two hit by pitches in 2 1/3 innings with one strikeout. The 23-year-old righty threw 65 pitches, with just 31 landing for strikes.
The lone hit he gave up: A Pete Alonso two-run home run on an elevated fastball in the first inning.
Cabrera, the No. 30 overall prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline, threw a clean second inning before his start unraveled in the third. After striking out Carrasco to begin the frame, Cabrera loaded the bases with three consecutive walks to Jonathan Villar, Francisco Lindor and Alonso before hitting Michael Conforto and Javier Baez to drive in two more runs.
Through three starts, Cabrera has a 7.11 ERA over 12 2/3 innings.
The Mets scored three runs in the sixth on two hits, one walk and two Marlins errors to go ahead for good and added runs in the eighth and ninth.
The loss drops the Marlins to 57-81, ensuring they will not have a winning season for the 11th time in the past 12 years. The Mets improve to 70-69.
