WASHINGTON — It was his first career MLB start after making his first four appearances with the Miami Marlins as a long reliever out of the bullpen.
But the results were still lackluster for Paul Campbell in Miami’s 7-2 loss to the Washington Nationals on Saturday. The Marlins are now 11-15 and have lost six of nine games on this three-city road trip, which concludes Sunday. The Nationals improve to 11-12.
Saturday was just the second time the Marlins lost a game by at least five runs. Thirteen of their 15 losses have been decided by no more than three runs.
Campbell, a Rule 5 Draft selection in December listed as the Marlins’ No. 27 overall prospect by MLB Pipeline, gave up five runs (four earned) on nine hits while striking out four over 3 2/3 innings. He threw 71 pitches, 49 of which went for strikes.
He minimized damage in the first two innings, giving up just one run in the first despite loading the bases with one out and just one more in the second despite giving up hits to three of the first four he faced.
It all unraveled in the fourth, when he gave up a two-run home run to Yan Gomes and was pulled three batters later with a runner on second and two outs.
Ross Detwiler allowed the inherited run to score after allowing back-to-back walks to Yadiel Hernandez and Kyle Schwarber before giving up a bases-clearing double to Josh Bell to cap a five-run inning.
Through five big-league appearances, Campbell has an 8.74 ERA over 11 1/3 innings with 13 strikeouts. He is allowing an average of 2.21 walks and hits per inning.
The Marlins, held to four hits on Saturday, scored their runs on a Jesus Aguilar solo home run in the sixth inning — his sixth in eight games — and an Isan Diaz sacrifice fly in the seventh.
THIS AND THAT
— Aguilar has hits in nine of his past 10 games.
— Diaz has been given an intentional walk in each of his first three games this season. He is the fifth player in Marlins history to be intentionally walked in three consecutive games. The others: Carlos Delgado, Giancarlo Stanton, Miguel Cabrera (3 times) and Gary Sheffield. Delgado holds the franchise record with four consecutive games with an intentional walk from September 20-23, 2005.
— Right-handed pitcher Jordan Holloway, the Marlins’ No. 22 overall prospect, has impressed so far this season. The 24-year-old has thrown seven scoreless innings over four outings with seven strikeouts while allowing just two hits and one walk. The club views him a starter but his effectiveness out of the bullpen is something to monitor.
