Bullpen falters for second consecutive game as Marlins fall to Cubs

The bullpen has been one of the bright spots for the Marlins this season, but it let them down Wednesday.

It did again Friday.

The Cubs scored one run off right-hander Brett de Geus in the eighth inning of a tie game and two more off lefty Kent Emanuel in the ninth to beat the Marlins 6-3 at loanDepot park.

The Marlins’ seventh loss in eight games came on the heels of a 10-8 defeat to the Diamondbacks, during which the bullpen surrendered seven runs in the final three innings.

Emanuel pitched two scoreless innings in that game as the first of five relievers used.

“We can’t keep running out the same four guys. Some other guys are going to have to step up,” Marlins’ manager Skip Schumaker said. “It was probably unfair to throw [Emanuel] out there again today. …We need guys to be able to throw in some higher leverage innings, maybe more than they’re used to throwing.”

Two blunders at first base — one in each half of the eighth inning — played a part in the outcome.

Seiya Suzuki singled to lead off the inning for the Cubs and later advanced to second when first baseman Jake Burger couldn’t snag the pickoff throw from de Gues. Suzuki moved to third on a groundout and scored to go-ahead run on Isaac Paredes’ single.

In the bottom of the eighth, Otto Lopez drew a walk to lead off, but was caught in a rundown trying to steal second.

“That’s how you lose games at this level,” Schumaker said of the mistakes.

Marlins starter Max Meyer notched a quality start, allowing three earned runs in six innings — all of them in the third inning.

“I’m proud of him to throw it with confidence today,” Schumaker said.

Meyer wasn’t pleased with his performance.

“I’m so frustrated. I know I can pitch a lot better,” Meyer said. “That wasn’t a great outing. It’s still a quality start, I guess.”

Pete Crow-Armstrong scored the first of the Cubs’ three runs in the third on a remarkable inside-the-park home run.

Crow-Armstrong belted a four-seam fastball from Meyer just out of the reach of racing right fielder Jesús Sanchez’s outstretched glove.

The ball bounced at the warning track and caromed off the wall away from Sanchez, who finally tracked it down in right center. Otto Lopez’s relay throw was on target, but Crow-Armstrong slid headfirst under catcher Nick Fortes’ tag.

“I coached Pete when he was 14 years old. He was just as fast then,” Schumaker said. “He’s an incredible athlete and a really exciting young player. He probably ran around in 14 or 15 seconds. It’s going to be one of the fastest times in the league.”

Miguel Amaya then reached on an infield single, and Ian Happ followed with a 401-foot homer to center for a 3-1 Cubs lead.

The Marlins, who struck first Friday on Derek Hill’s RBI groundout in the second, erased the two-run deficit with Jonah Bride’s RBI single in the third and Kyle Stowers’ bases-loaded walk in the fifth.

Meyer settled down after the third inning. He walked back-to-back batters in the fourth, but then retired eight of the final nine guys he faced.

EDWARDS HURT

Shortstop Xavier Edwards exited the game after the second inning because of lower back discomfort. Edwards said he was hurt sliding into second base in the first inning while stealing his MLB-leading 13^th stolen base in August. He will undergo an MRI on Saturday.

“When I went to dive into second, I felt something in my back,” Edwards said. “I tried to loosen it up a little bit…they just decided it would be best not to push it too far.”

Edwards led off the game for the Marlins with a single.

After starting the season on the 60-day injured list because of a foot infection, has 22 steals in 47 games this season. In Marlins’ history, only Luis Castillo (26), Chuck Carr (24) and Emilio Bonifácio (24) had more steals through 47 games.

NO HOMERS HERE

Right-handers Declan Cronin (59.2 innings pitched) and Calvin Faucher (47.2 IP) are the only relievers in MLB this season who have thrown at least 40 innings without allowing a home run.

Cronin’s homerless streak, extended Friday with one scoreless inning, is the longest by a relief pitcher to start an MLB season since 2014, and the third-longest at any point of a season in Marlins’ history, trailing only Tanner Scott (61.2, 2023) and Kyle Barraclough (60.2, 2016), according to Elias Sports Bureau.

“With the slug being a big part of the game today, that’s a giant stat to have, especially for a reliever, because you could lose the lead in one swing,” Schumaker said. “Both of them, when they get hurt [by a hitter], it’s usually singles through the middle. There’s not damage at all. Either they walk or they get singles off them.”

Schumaker said Cronin, who has allowed 20 earned runs, struck out 61, and walked 20, has excelled in inducing ground balls and gotten “huge double plays.”

Faucher (18 ER, 53 K, 23 BB) has been in “high-leverage situations” since coming off the injured list early in the season. With Scott traded, Faucher has emerged as a ninth- or eighth-inning guy with “three real weapons” in his pitching arsenal.