BOSTON — Adam Duvall could only watch as his pop up sailed into foul territory just beyond first base for an easy out to end the fifth inning on Monday and strand two runners.
Jesus Aguilar stood on home plate for a few seconds after he swung through a 93.9 mph splitter for an inning-ending strikeout as the three teammates he stranded on the bases retreated back to the dugout.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Starling Marte each slowly walked back to the dugout after striking out in the eighth inning representing the potential game-tying run with two runners on base.
And Jorge Alfaro could only try to hustle to first base as he attempted to beat out a groundball to the left side. Instead, he became the final out of this 11-day stretch to forget for the Miami Marlins.
It was another set of wasted opportunities on a road trip full of them.
And the missed chances contributed to Miami’s latest, and final, defeat on a nine-game trip that Marlins manager Don Mattingly called a “nightmare” for the club.
The Marlins lost 5-2 to the Boston Red Sox on Monday, a makeup game after the original series finale at Fenway Park on May 30 was postponed due to inclement weather.
The Marlins, now 25-34 on the season as they return home for six games at loanDepot park, recorded just one win on this trip that included three games with the Red Sox, two with the Toronto Blue Jays in Buffalo and four with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Self-inflicted wounds played a large role in their slide.
The Marlins recorded a paltry .133 batting average (10 for 75) with runners in scoring position over the nine games. They were outscored 47-26 in the nine games. They were held to three runs or fewer seven times.
For comparison, the Marlins were hitting .268 with runners in scoring position when the road trip began.
On Monday, Miami went 3 for 16 when they had runners on second or third base and left 14 runners on base.
The lone hits in that situation: An RBI single by Alfaro in the fourth that scored Duvall, a Duvall single that bounced off Red Sox third baseman Marwin Gonzalez’s glove with two outs in the ninth and an Isan Diaz RBI double with two outs in the ninth to extend a late rally attempt that fell short.
What can the Marlins do to improve in these run-scoring situations?
“It’s not necessarily big adjustments here and there,” hitting coach Eric Duncan said. “I think that when you when you try to make particular situations something of a bigger deal, that’s when things kind of mount up on guys instead of living in the moment, taking a breath, understanding what the game is giving you, what the game situation is, and then trying to execute your plan from there.”
Marte, who went 3 for 4 and also drew a walk, scored the Marlins’ other run with a solo home run in the fifth.
ANOTHER INJURED PITCHER
The failed chances with runners in scoring position wasn’t the only negative trend that followed the Marlins on Monday.
For the third time in five games, a starting pitcher not among the team’s main three exited his start early with an injury. It happened with Elieser Hernandez (right quad strain) and Cody Poteet (right MCL sprain) in Pittsburgh on Thursday and Friday.
On Monday, it happened to Zach Thompson, who started because the Marlins wanted to give Pablo Lopez an extra day of rest between starts — a decision the Marlins have made several times this season as they monitor their starting pitchers’ inning totals this season.
Thompson threw just three innings in his MLB debut before appearing to roll his ankle fielding a groundball. He tried to pitch through it but was removed after throwing a pair of warmup pitches in front of manager Don Mattingly, pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. and head athletic trainer Gene Basham before being removed from the game.
Thompson gave up two runs on four hits, a walk and a wild pitch with one strikeout over his three innings of work. Of his 55 pitches, 38 went for strikes (26 of those strikes were either fouled off or balls put into play).
The Red Sox (37-23) added three runs in the fourth off five hits against Zach Pop with a couple Marlins defensive errors mixed in to take the lead for good. Pop has now given up eight runs on 11 hits over his last two innings of work after also struggling on Friday.
