Curry saves bullpen as offense struggles to produce vs. Falter

PITTSBURGH -- For three straight games, the Marlins brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth against the Pirates at PNC Park. But unfortunately for Miami, it was unable to capitalize on any of the opportunities, and in the process the team was swept with a 3-1 loss to Pittsburgh on Wednesday afternoon.

The Marlins began the season by getting swept in four games by the Pirates. It’s the first time since 2011 that the club has been swept in a season series of seven games or more; the ‘11 team went 0-7 against both the Brewers and the Padres.

Here are three takeaways from their season finale against a pesky Bucs team.

Near no-hitter
The Marlins struggled against the Pirates’ pitching the first time through the order in all three games. In each of the first two starts, they found ways to battle back, often shortening up to go the other way for knocks or beating out infield hits.

But on Wednesday, Bailey Falter outmatched the offense. Falter carried a no-hit bid into the seventh inning with almost no highlight-reel plays necessary to keep the chase for history going. Jonah Bride broke up the no-hitter with one out in the seventh on a flare to left, then Cristian Pache’s single to lead off the eighth helped finally chase Falter from the game.

“Falter was really good,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “Fastball at the top of the zone that we couldn’t get on top of and flush. Not a lot of hard contact, not a lot of great plays behind him, just a lot of weak contact and strikeouts. The slider was super effective as well. We just couldn’t flush anything. So I hate to tip your cap to starting pitching, especially on the other side, but today was his day and he was just better than us today.”

Despite the struggles against Falter, Miami kept pushing and was able to rally against David Bednar, one of Pittsburgh’s closing options this season. Pache notched his second ninth-inning RBI knock in the series to give the club some momentum, but Jalen Beeks relieved Bednar and stranded the bases loaded to end the game.

“Those guys fought. There’s no doubt about it,” Schumaker said. “They fought all three games, had a chance to win or tie all three games. We just couldn’t come up with the big hit late.”

McMillon exits with injury
The Marlins have had to deal with pitcher injuries all season long, especially to some of their more experienced rotation arms. On Wednesday, they were dealt another injury concern, this time to a newly acquired reliever who was showing promise at the Major League level.

John McMillon entered in the third inning to relieve starter Jonathan Bermúdez. McMillon struggled at the Triple-A level in Kansas City’s system before he was claimed off waivers by Miami on Aug. 2. Since then, the former Top 30 prospect with the Royals has posted a 1.50 ERA for the Marlins.

But McMillon fired a first-pitch fastball at 87.8 mph, then his second fastball was 89.4 -- well down from his 95.4 mph average this season. After a quick discussion with Schumaker and a trainer, he was removed with right elbow tightness, and he’s currently being evaluated further.

“I knew something was up the second pitch,” Schumaker said. “I went out there -- he said he didn’t feel right, so that’s when we pulled him.”

Xzavion carries ‘pen
McMillon’s injury forced Marlins long reliever Xzavion Curry into action with little warmup time. But the quick call didn’t seem to fluster Curry at all, as he completed 4 2/3 scoreless innings. The right-hander didn’t waste any time picking corners, walking none while striking out three and allowing only two hits.

Ahead of a four-game series in Washington, D.C., Curry kept the bullpen fresh for a bounceback opportunity on Thursday.

“Man, he saved us,” Schumaker said. “In the bullpen day, we were hoping to get at least three innings from Bermúdez and then a couple of innings from a couple of different guys. Unfortunately, McMillon has some tightness going on in the forearm/elbow area. Curry had to provide some innings and some length. Not only did he do that, he kept us in the game, and I just can’t say enough about what he did.”