Lopez's first start off IL promising despite loss

MIAMI -- One pitch may have swung the outcome of the game on Monday night, but it didn¡¯t change the bottom line in terms of the Marlins¡¯ big picture.

Pablo López's return to the rotation was filled with plenty of encouraging signs, but unfortunately it was marred by a three-run home run to Freddy Galvis in the fifth inning that lifted the Reds to a 6-3 victory over the Marlins at Marlins Park.

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On the injured list since mid-June with a right shoulder strain, Lopez showed plenty of promise and very little rust.

¡°It's a good feeling knowing that my health is there,¡± said the 23-year-old Lopez, who worked five innings and logged 86 pitches. ¡°I'm just going to keep working on my recovery, and all that process starts right now.¡±

Concerns over Lopez¡¯s arm strength were quickly erased. According to Statcast, his average four-seam fastball was 94.1 mph, and it maxed out at 95.5 mph. Entering the game, Lopez had averaged 93.7 mph, slightly above the MLB average of 93.4 mph.

¡°I felt like my fastball was there and it was playing up in the zone,¡± Lopez said. ¡°That's part of the rehab process, trying to build that endurance and knowing that your strength and velocity will be there.¡±

Monday was Lopez¡¯s 15th start, and if he can hold up for the rest of the season, Miami will have more evidence as to whether he can be counted on as a rotation piece when Spring Training opens in February.

Lopez allowed four runs on five hits and one walk in five innings, with three strikeouts.

¡°I thought he was aggressive,¡± Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. ¡°We have talked about this as a club, with all the walks last week. We wanted to show we were aggressive. Get into the strike zone and attack.¡±

In two of Miami¡¯s games against Philadelphia over the weekend, the staff walked 10 batters.

Neil Walker blasted a two-run homer off Sonny Gray in the third inning, which gave Miami a one-run lead until Galvis¡¯ opposite-field blast in the fifth. And in the ninth inning, Jorge Alfaro blistered an opposite-field homer.

Besides the two home runs, the Marlins didn¡¯t do much off Gray, who worked six-plus innings, or the Reds¡¯ bullpen. Miami had just five hits.

¡°I played with the guy last year [on the Yankees], so I knew when he was on, the type of stuff that he does,¡± Walker said of Gray. ¡°That's really what he's been doing all year.¡±

In the fifth inning, Lopez issued a leadoff single to Nick Senzel and a walk to Josh VanMeter. After a mound visit from pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr., Galvis drove Lopez¡¯s first offering -- a 93.2 mph fastball -- over the wall in left-center.

¡°It wasn't a bad pitch,¡± Lopez said. ¡°Maybe I could have got it a little more down, to get him to hit it on the ground. He put a good swing on it.¡±

Making his first start since a June 15 win against the Pirates, Lopez effectively mixed his pitches, throwing 42 four-seam fastballs, 17 changeups, 14 curveballs and 13 two-seam fastballs. His top two-seam speed was 95.1 mph.

¡°He's got really, really good stuff,¡± Walker said of Lopez. ¡°For as young as he is, the sky¡¯s the limit for him. It's always fun to play behind him because he attacks guys, there's a lot of balls put in play. But he also has the ability to put guys away.¡±