MIAMI — The full Pablo Lopez experience played out in full in the fifth inning of the Miami Marlins’ 3-1 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.
Lopez was cruising through another inning of work, with two outs and no runners on base in a 1-1 game, and suddenly the defense fell apart behind him. Jesus Aguilar committed an error, then Jon Berti. The starting pitcher’s margin for error vanished, so Mel Stottlemyre Jr. came to the mound. They talked through the situation and Lopez was ready for an escape. He struck out Carson Kelly on five pitches, headed to the dugout and watched the final four innings.
With five innings and no earned runs, Lopez lowered his ERA to 2.04 and he’s still winless in 2021. While everything around him threatened to break down, Lopez kept the Marlins (14-16) in position to win, and outfielder Adam Duvall eventually broke the tie with a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the seventh and give Miami a 2-1 lead.
The Marlins have now won three of Lopez’s seven starts, and his five-inning gem let Miami finish off a three-game sweep of the Diamondbacks (15-16) and extend its winning streak to three games in front of 4,049 at loanDepot park.
One day after five relief pitchers combined to shut out Arizona, four relievers combined for four shutout innings behind Lopez, led in part by Dylan Floro — and with some major help from outfielder Magneuris Sierra. Floro (2-1) fired a 1-2-3 seventh inning, and Sierra kept the game tied 1-1 when he scaled the wall in left-center field and robbed a possible two-out home run by Diamondbacks utility infielder Asdrubal Cabrera.
Two pitches later, Duvall cranked a 407-foot home run off Arizona pitcher J.B. Bukauskas to put the Marlins ahead for good. After Madison Bumgarner held Miami to one run on two hits in six innings, the Marlins jumped on Bukauskas (1-1) for two runs on three hits in the seventh.
Miguel Rojas gave Miami its only run against Bumgarner immediately. The shortstop launched his third pitch of the game just wide of the left-field foul pole. He launched the Diamondbacks starting pitcher’s fourth 404 feet to left to put the Marlins ahead 1-0.
A half inning later, he gave the lead back. Lopez was headed to a 1-2-3 inning on 11 pitches when he got Arizona catcher Daulton Varsho to tap a grounder up the middle. The ball hit off the mound and Rojas couldn’t field it cleanly. His first error of the season extended the inning and the Diamondbacks tied the game 1-1 on a double by Arizona slugger Pavin Smith.
Despite a series of defensive breakdowns, Lopez made it through five innings on 94 pitches, allowing just three hits and one unearned run, while striking out six and walking two.
