Marlins make Ray pay as D-backs lose 5-3

In a game started by 2 of the brightest young pitchers in the MLB right now, one pitcher brought his A-game and the other laid a stinker. Based on the final score, you can probably assume who did what.

Things started well for Robbie Ray in the first as Ichiro Suzuki struck out, Martin Prado grounded out, and Christian Yelich did the same. Things were similar for Jose Fernandez, as a lone Paul Goldschmidt hit was his only blemish.

From the second inning onward, Robbie Ray was not the same pitcher we have come to expect as he lost complete control on the mound. Casey McGehee, the former Giant, launched a double to center to lead things off. Michael Morse walked and J.T Realmuto doubled to center to score the first run of the game. Cole Gillespie hit a long fly ball to right field to score Morse from third, and after a strike out of Adeiny Hechavarria, Jose Fernandez joined in on the fun with a sharp double down the line to make the score 3-0. Ichiro would fly out to end the inning.

Fernandez would continue to cruise until the 4th inning, when the D-backs finally responded with some runs of their own. After Chris Owings lined out to lead things off, Paul Goldschmidt would double and Yasmany Tomas singled to drive him in. Jake Lamb showed shades of his April form with a triple to center to score Tomas and make things 3-2.

The Marlins would respond immediately in the 5th however with Jose Fernandez reaching on an error and Ichiro immediately making Ray pay with a triple to right field to make things 4-2. After a coaching visit, Martin Prado singled to drive in another run and make things 5-2. Christian Yelich grounded into a double play but a walk to McGehee sealed the day for Robbie Ray. His final line was 4 2/3 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 3 BB and 4 K's. Matt Stites came on struck out Michael Morse to end the inning.

With David Peralta up in the 6th and Jose Fernandez still dealing, things turned disastrous. Up 0-2 on Peralta, Fernandez threw a 97 mph fastball that got away and drilled Peralta in the back of the head. He'd fall to the ground in a heap and was not moving. After a moment, he flipped onto his back and then left the field on his own power. The Dbacks responded the next inning by drilling Yelich in the butt. Leone was ejected.

The offense was stifled again until the 7th, when with two outs Oscar Hernandez and Aaron Hill walked. Ender Inciarte drilled a liner off Morse at 1st that trickled into the outfield to score Hernandez. Chris Owings responded by striking out to end the threat. Still, the D-backs found a way to score 3 runs off Jose Fernandez, not a bad night against a fabulous pitcher.

The D-backs bullpen was superb in relief of Robbie Ray. Matt Stites, Dominic Leone, Josh Collmenter, David Hernandez all combined for 4 1/3 IP, giving up just 2 hits and striking out 4 to keep things close.

The offense was quiet until the 9th as Aaron Hill walked to lead things off. Ender Inciarte followed that with a single of his own and pinch hitter Welington Castillo singled to load things up for the D-backs in the 9th. But, as quickly as they threatened, they went down as Paul Goldschmidt, A.J Pollock and Yasmany Tomas struck out against Marlins closer A.J. Ramos to keep the Marlins a winner 5-3.

Source: FanGraphs

Winner - Ender Inciarte (+22.3%)

Loser - Robbie Ray (-33.1%), Yasmany Tomas (-31.9%)

Another gamethread, another DbacksSkins victory with a shocking 184 total comments including the comment of the thread when he responded to Yelich's reaction to getting HBP.

Check back tomorrow as Zack Godley makes his MLB debut against the Milwaukee Brewers in a 4-game series.