MIAMI—When facing MLB competition, Adam Mazur has not yet come close to justifying the hype that once surrounded him as a prospect. The 24-year-old, former second-round pick entered play on Sunday with a career 7.04 ERA.
Perhaps his 13th career start will later be remembered as a turning point. The Marlins’ bats were no match for the Tigers pitching staff, as the prospective AL Central champions shut them down in Detroit’s 2-0 victory to avoid the sweep. However, Mazur did everything in his power to keep the Fish in the game.
“It’s just a building block. Obviously, it’s not done, but it’s a step in the right direction,” said Mazur after throwing six innings of one-hit, two-run ball.
Keider Montero, making his first start since July 25, allowed just three hits over five scoreless frames, backed up by four goose eggs courtesy of the trio of José Urquidy, Tommy Kahnle, and Will Vest. Detroit pitching scattered seven hits on the day, with none accounting for extra bases. Despite having baserunners in seven of the nine innings, it wouldn’t be until Eric Wagaman in the bottom of the seventh that Miami had a runner reach scoring position.
“When (Detroit) got some traffic out there, they made some pitches in crucial spots, and it became the difference today,” said manager Clayton McCullough.
The difference in question came early, as a Colt Keith ground ball deflected off the glove of Wagaman at first base in the top of the second. A play that should’ve ended the inning instead resulted in three separate errors. Upon retrieving the ball, second baseman Maximo Acosta threw errantly to third in an attempt to catch lead runner Gleyber Torres, allowing Torres to score. When left fielder and Saturday’s hero, Troy Johnston, bobbled the ball upon its caroming off the wall, that gave Keith an extra 90 feet.
As the pitcher of record for this display of defensive futility, Mazur became the first Marlins pitcher since Edward Cabrera nearly a year to the day (9/13/24) to lose a start of at least six innings pitched and allow zero earned runs.
Now 70-80, Miami needs to win out over their final 12 games to finish above .500 (the longest winning streak in franchise history is only nine games).
Looking Ahead
With an off-day on Monday, the Marlins will travel to Denver, where they’ll begin a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies. Eury Pérez (6-5, 4.57 ERA) will take the ball for Miami in Tuesday’s series opener. Kyle Freeland (4-15, 4.97 ERA) will oppose him for Colorado.
First pitch from Coors Field is slated for 8:40 EST.