Marlins shut out by Braves again in 5-0 loss as scoreless streak reach 20 innings

The Marlins had no answers for Braves starting pitcher Max Fried on Tuesday at Truist Park.

Fried used just 92 pitches to complete a three-hit shutout as the Braves earned a series win with a 5-0 victory.

Miami (6-19) hasn’t scored a run in the series, and the Marlins have gone 20 innings without scoring dating back to the seventh inning of Sunday’s game against the Cubs.

Miami has lost seven of its last 10 games and the Marlins are 11.5 games back from first-place Atlanta (16-6) in the NL East standings.

Fried completed a shutout in less than 100 pitches for the third time in his major-league career as he struck out six and did not allow a walk.

“He had everything working,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said of Fried. “[He had] the fastball with [changeup] combo. His slider was good but the changeup we just couldn’t stop swinging at it and kind of beating it into the ground. Other than Luis [Arraez] we just had some weak, pull-side ground balls too often and too much. He was on his game.”

Fried (2-0) faced 29 batters, two over the minimum, as the Marlins fell victim to some costly double plays.

Emmanuel Rivera led off the top of the third with a single as the game’s first baserunner. He was erased on an Otto Lopez double play and Nick Fortes’ grounded out to end the frame.

In the top of the seventh, Arraez reached on a leadoff single. Austin Riley’s subsequent fielding error on a ground ball off the bat of Bryan De La Cruz put runners on first and second with no out. Josh Bell hit into a 6-4-3 double play, and Avisail Garcia’s groundout stranded Arraez at third. Arraez was the only baserunner to reach third for the Marlins in the contest.

“It’s just been going [that way] the last 19 or 20 innings scoreless,” Schumaker said. “We have guys on base and runners in scoring position and we haven’t been able to capitalize. Their team is pretty good too so they’re making pitches at the right time. We’re beating it into the ground at the wrong time.”

Marlins starting pitcher Trevor Rogers had another strong outing against the Braves. In his previous start against Atlanta (April 12 in Miami), the southpaw went five innings allowing two earned runs on eight hits and he struck out five in an 8-1 loss.

Rogers (0-3) went 5 2/3 innings allowing five runs (three earned) on seven hits, one walk and he struck out four on Tuesday. The two unearned runs were in the second inning. When Rogers appeared to have a 5-4-3 inning-ending double play, Lopez committed a fielding error, putting two on with one out.

That set the table for a Michael Harris II RBI double followed by a David Fletcher sacrifice fly. Rogers limited the damage to two runs.

“We have to play clean baseball,” Schumaker said. “Against a team like that, giving them extra outs, they’re going to capitalize and they did. We make unforced errors — or forced errors — or whatever you want to call it, that’s a double play ball that needs to be turned at this level.”

Rogers put together three scoreless innings following the second-inning blemish. In the sixth, though, the Braves’ bats saw Rogers for the third time. That resulted in three runs on five hits featuring an Adam Duvall two-run home run and the Braves were out to a five-run lead late.

“I felt really good out there,” Rogers said. “I’m starting to get deep into ballgames consistently. That last hump I’m just trying to get over. When you really break it down I made one bad pitch all night. That’s probably the only one I’d take back. I kind of [threw] a backdoor slider to set up the [at-bat] and it went right into [Duvall’s] wheelhouse.”

In his five starts this season, Rogers hasn’t made it through six full innings, going 5 2/3 in his last two starts.

“I’ve kind of been easily getting into the fifth,” Rogers said. “[My goal] is to get into the sixth, seventh and eighth innings and give that bullpen some relief. That’s this staff’s goal.”

Arraez went 2 for 4 with two singles for two of Miami’s three hits.