The Miami Marlins dropped their third straight game by a final score of 5-2 against the Baltimore Orioles. To make matters worse, their most consistent starting pitcher and biggest potential trade chip, Edward Cabrera, came out of the game due to posterior elbow discomfort. He was limited to only four innings of work.

“We’re optimistic it’s nothing serious,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said postgame. “We’ll get more clarity, more information in the coming days…It started to pop up during that fourth inning and then as we talked through things in the dugout, we made the decision to cut it short there.”

Cabrera described it as a feeling of “fatigue,” but shared McCullough’s optimism about hopefully avoiding a major injury.

Prior to Friday’s start, Cabrera had completed seven innings in back-to-back outings. Even without the health scare, he wouldn’t have been effective enough on Friday to last that long against the Orioles.

In the bottom of the first, third baseman Jordan Westburg knocked in an RBI single, driving in former number one overall pick Jackson Holliday, giving the O’s a 1-0 lead. Ryan O’Hearn, one of the hottest names to potentially be moved at the deadline, drove in the second run of the ballgame on an RBI double.

O’Hearn tacked on another run in his next plate appearance with an RBI single. Former future Marlin Ramon Laureano then drove Gunnar Henderson in on an RBI double, giving Baltimore a 4-0 lead through three innings.

On the plus side, Cabrera did generate 15 total whiffs, including eight with the curveball, his most-used pitch of the night (32%). His fastball averaged 97.7 mph, topping out at 99.4 mph. For the second time in his career (2022 was the first), Cabrera has not surrendered a walk in back-to-back starts. He struck out three straight batters before exiting.

“He’s been terrific,” said McCullough. “He’s shown the ability to miss bats. He’s shown the ability to consistently get the ball in the strike zone, using his weapons very effectively. He’s had an outstanding half and I expect he’ll come out in the second half and continue to pitch well for us.”

With the Major League Baseball trade deadline 20 days away, Cabrera’s availability is now up in the air. If he lands on the injured list, even for a minimum-length stint of 15 days, that would leave time for only one more start to show other teams that he’s okay. Cabrera has made many trips to the IL during his career, but the most recent elbow-related injury was tendonitis back in 2022.

The Marlins are not under pressure to make a trade because Cabrera is club-controlled through the 2028 season. On the other hand, his market value may never get higher.

Orioles starting pitcher Dean Kremer completed seven shutout innings, only allowing three hits and one walk. He also struck out seven. It wasn’t until the top of the ninth inning that the Marlins got on the board when Otto Lopez hit a two-run shot off of reliever Andrew Kittredge.

With the loss, the Marlins are now 42-51 on the season while the Orioles improve to 43-50. First pitch on Saturday will be at 4:10 pm with Janson Junk taking the mound. For the first time since being traded to the O’s, Trevor Rogers will face his former team.