Marlins, Orioles stumble into matchup after disappointing series

The Miami Marlins lost three of four in their most recent series, but they won’t be getting a lot of sympathy from the Baltimore Orioles.

The Marlins will look to bounce back with a win Tuesday when they visit the Orioles, who are desperate for a victory after an ugly trip to Yankee Stadium.

Baltimore comes in riding a five-game losing streak. After an 11-5 loss to end a home series against the Houston Astros on Thursday, the Orioles went to the Bronx and dropped all four meetings with the New York Yankees. The sweep was not particularly competitive, as Baltimore was outscored 39-10.

“Four-game set, to not win a game is really tough, frustrating,” Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said. “We’ve got to bounce back in Miami and just play clean baseball to give ourselves a chance.”

In the series-ending 12-1 defeat on Monday, Baltimore amassed 10 hits but mustered only the one run — on a bases-loaded walk, no less. Blaze Alexander led the way with three hits, but it wasn’t nearly enough for the scuffling Orioles.

“We just weren’t competitive,” Albernaz said. “We didn’t really give ourselves a chance to win, whether it be mistakes, miscues, whatever the case may be. But that’s on us. … This series it just felt like we couldn’t stop the bleeding in the big inning, or we just shot ourselves in the foot.”

Baltimore will try to recover behind Chris Bassitt (2-2, 5.46 ERA), who was terrific against the Astros on Thursday in his most recent outing. The veteran right-hander gave up one run in 6 2/3 innings in a much-needed start for one of the league’s most underperforming rotations.

“All of our starters have been pretty poor throughout the year,” Bassitt said that day. “I thought we had kind of a come-to Jesus (moment) … and had some hard talks about how we were pitching, our mindset with pitching. … We have bullpen guys — and obviously starters — that are way too good to be cute out there.”

Bassitt is 1-2 with a 4.21 ERA in four lifetime starts against Miami. This time, he will be opposing a Marlins team that mustered only two runs total in its most recent two games. Miami lost three of four in the series against the visiting Philadelphia Phillies, including 7-2 and 1-0 defeats to end the set.

“There were more scattered moments by us offensively tonight,” Miami manager Clayton McCullough said after the Monday defeat. “We just didn’t have that inning where we were able to string some (hits) together.”

Joe Mack, one of the Marlins’ top prospects, made his major league debut on Monday. The 23-year-old catcher batted seventh and went 0-for-3 with a strikeout.

“It’ll take a little while offensively to get up here and let yourself relax and take quality at-bats,” McCullough said, “but I thought behind the plate he seemed very calm and did a nice job.”

Sandy Alcantara (3-2, 3.04 ERA) will get the ball for the Marlins in the series opener. He gave up two runs and seven hits over six innings Wednesday in a no-decision against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He has not allowed a home run in either of his past two starts.

In two career starts vs. the Orioles, Alcantara is 1-1 with a 3.75 ERA.

The teams played three games in Baltimore last season. The Marlins lost the first game before winning the final two by a combined 17-1 margin.

–Field Level Media