Pittsburgh Pirates at Miami Marlins

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
PIT	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	2
MIA	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	—	2	5	0

Tuesday's 6:40 PM ET first pitch put Paul Skenes on the bump against Eury Pérez, and by the final out, Pérez had clearly won that argument. Skenes carried a 2.60 ERA in his career against Miami into the start, but he'd also walked 10 batters combined over his prior 2 outings, and that control funk never fully went away. Pérez, all of 23 years old and coming off a start where he punched out 9 Braves, is the arm Miami's front office wants building around no matter how the rest of this season shakes out.

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FINAL

Spread

ML

Total

Pirates(58-62)

LWLLL

0

-1.5+167-102o7.5+133

Marlins(60-59)

WWLLL

2

+1.5-169+108u7.5-130

Best BetMarlins -102

Postgame

Nailed it — Miami won outright, 2-0, exactly the value case we made at -102. Pérez was the better arm from the jump, working 7 scoreless while Skenes gave up the game-deciding runs, so the read on which ace had the better stuff held up completely.

Pregame

Miami's the play here even at a near coin-flip price, because Pérez has simply outpitched Skenes for months now while the Marlins are rolling with 2 straight wins. Pittsburgh's lineup is missing too many regulars — Cruz, Griffin, O'Hearn, now Rodriguez — to feel good about backing them on the road. Take the Marlins to win it outright at home.

Pittsburgh showed up banged up and sliding. Endy Rodriguez was scratched from the lineup with a hip issue, and the Pirates are already without Oneil Cruz, Konnor Griffin, Mitch Keller and Ryan O'Hearn for extended stretches — a chunk of a healthy roster gone before first pitch. That's on top of a playoff push that's cratered fast, with Pittsburgh having dropped 6 straight series and watched its postseason odds fall off a cliff heading into Miami. Books still had the Pirates as the favorite anyway, with the Marlins sitting as home underdogs even in the middle of a tightening wild-card race.

Paul Skenes

(9-11)·3.95 ERA

Aug 5 @ Brewers

L

5.0IP

3ER

6K

4BB

93P

08/11 Lineup

Eury Pérez

(6-9)·3.23 ERA

Aug 5 @ Braves

L

5.0IP

4ER

9K

2BB

91P

08/11 Lineup

Miami's had its own bumps — Kyle Stowers landed on the IL with a hamstring strain the same day this one was played, and the pitching staff is already without Max Meyer, Andrew Nardi, Robby Snelling and more. But the Marlins clawed back from a brutal July skid to stay squarely in the wild-card conversation, and they came in having won 2 straight. Otto Lopez has been the engine at the top of the order all year, hitting well over .300 and setting the table.

Pittsburgh Pirates

(58-62)

Aug 9Lvs Mets1-11

Aug 8Wvs Mets9-0

Aug 7Lvs Mets4-6

Aug 6L@ Brewers2-5

Aug 5L@ Brewers2-4

Miami Marlins

(60-59)

Aug 9Wvs Angels12-3

Aug 8Wvs Angels7-0

Aug 7Lvs Angels3-4

Aug 6L@ Braves3-11

Aug 5L@ Braves1-4

The form card tells the real story here. Miami won 2 straight and had taken 2 of the first 3 in its set against the Angels, while Pittsburgh lost its last game and had dropped 2 straight to Milwaukee, taking just 1 of the first 3 against the Mets in its most recent set. One club was trending up, the other very much down, and Tuesday just piled onto that.

Pittsburgh Pirates

(5)

• Day-To-DayEndy Rodriguez (C) — Rodriguez (hip) is absent from the lineup for Tuesday's game against Miami.08/11
• 10-Day-ILRyan O'Hearn (RF) — The Pirates placed O'Hearn on the 10-day injured list Saturday with a left quad strain, Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.08/01
• 60-Day-ILKonnor Griffin (SS) — The Pirates announced July 31 that Griffin (finger) has resumed participating in baseball activities, including playing catch and taking right-handed swings against a Trajekt machine, MLB.com reports.08/10
• 60-Day-ILOneil Cruz (CF) — Cruz (hand) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Indianapolis on Friday, Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reports.08/07
• 60-Day-ILMitch Keller (SP) — The Pirates placed Keller on the 60-day injured list Monday due to a right arm teres major muscle injury.08/03

Miami Marlins

(8)

• 10-Day-ILKyle Stowers (1B) — Miami placed Stowers on the 10-day IL with a left hamstring strain on Tuesday.08/11
• 15-Day-ILMax Meyer (SP) — Meyer (neck) will be re-evaluated next week, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.08/07
• 15-Day-ILAnthony Bender (RP) — Bender (shin) threw a bullpen session Friday, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.08/07
• 15-Day-ILWilliam Kempner (RP) — The Marlins placed Kempner on the 15-day injured list Sunday due to a right elbow sprain.07/12
• 60-Day-ILAndrew Nardi (RP) — Nardi (ribs) is scheduled to visit a doctor Tuesday after experiencing elbow discomfort, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.08/07
• 60-Day-ILRobby Snelling (SP) — Snelling (elbow) is expected to begin a throwing program in September, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.08/07
• 60-Day-ILAdam Mazur (SP) — Mazur (elbow) is expected to begin a throwing program sometime in September, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.08/07
• 60-Day-ILRonny Henriquez (RP) — Henriquez (elbow) began playing catch from 60 feet out Friday, Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reports.07/18

Both injury reports are ugly in different ways. Pittsburgh's missing impact talent up and down the roster — Cruz's power bat, Griffin's future at short, Keller's arm in the rotation — while Miami's issue is depth on the mound, with multiple relievers and starters already shelved before you even get to Stowers' fresh hamstring strain. Neither team walked into this one at full strength, which made the pitching matchup even more of the whole ballgame.

And Pérez delivered on that. He tossed 7 scoreless, Esteury Ruiz took Skenes deep for a solo shot in the 3rd, and a throwing error by Pirates shortstop Jacob Gonzalez let Miami tack on an unearned run in the 5th. Pete Fairbanks slammed the door for his 18th save, and Pittsburgh's offense never got anything going, managing just 4 hits in a shutout loss that summed up exactly the kind of stretch this team is in.