Bullpen coughs up lead as D-backs drop trip opener
MIAMI -- Warming up in the Arizona Diamondbacks bullpen, Andrew Chafin feared he was out of whack. He was right.
The left-handed reliever faced two batters and walked both on four pitches, and they scored in a four-run sixth inning that helped the Miami Marlins rally to win 7-4 on Tuesday night.
The Diamondbacks walked three and hit a batter in the inning to squander a 4-1 lead.
"It's very disappointing. We had it right in front of us," manager Chip Hale said. "It got tough when you walk two guys in a row. You have to have somebody throwing strikes."
The rough outing raised Chafin's ERA from 2.61 to 4.35.
"I knew warming up in the bullpen it was going to be tough. I didn't have a good feel," Chafin (0-1) said. "My sinker was running about three feet to the left. It usually goes down."
Jake Barrett replaced Chafin and gave up a two-run pinch-hit single by Ichiro Suzuki that put Miami ahead. Before that, Barrett hit Derek Dietrich with a pitch, although the Diamondbacks appealed in vain.
"The ball just hit the knob of the bat," catcher Welington Castillo said. "I don't know what they were looking at in New York but I think that was a foul ball. That changed the inning."
Marcell Ozuna hit a two-run homer for Miami, his third in as many games. Christian Yelich drove in two runs with a fielder's choice and his second homer.
Castillo hit a two-run homer off Justin Nicolino (2-0), who won despite allowing four runs in six innings. A.J. Ramos pitched a perfect ninth for his eighth save.
Arizona, starting a nine-game trip, has lost four straight.
Diamondbacks starter Patrick Corbin allowed three runs in 5 1-3 innings. Ozuna's homer ended his night.
"That last pitch really hurts me when we're up by three and you let them back in the game," Corbin said.
Arizona manufactured two runs in the second, driving them in on a fielder's choice and Nick Ahmed's sacrifice fly.
The Marlins' Martin Prado, who came into the game leading the majors in batting, went 1 for 5 to drop his average to .398.
Miami catcher J.T. Realmuto batted leadoff for the first time in his career, filling in for the suspended Dee Gordon. Manager Don Mattingly's lineup experiment paid off when Realmuto doubled and scored in the first.
Realmuto is batting .485 during an eight-game hitting streak.
"Once you get rolling you've just got to ride that hot streak as long as you can," he said. "I feel confident at the plate, and right now I feel like from top to bottom everybody is feeling the same way on this team."
The game was the first at Marlins Park since a Beyonce concert last week that drew a sellout crowd of 36,000 for the start of her tour. Following the show, the Marlins re-sodded center field as planned, which left seams that are expected to disappear by the end of the homestand.
Arizona: INF Jean Segura, who leads the majors with 37 hits, sat out because of a sore hip. He was available off the bench and is expected to start Wednesday.
Miami: 1B Justin Boar dislocated the little finger on his left hand sliding into a base in the eighth inning. X-rays were negative, but he'll be re-examined Wednesday.
Marlins RHP Jose Fernandez (2-2, 4.08) is scheduled to start Wednesday against Rubby De La Rosa (3-3, 4.18), who has won his past three starts. Fernandez is 18-1 at Marlins Park.
