Luzardo’s Career Night Leads Marlins to 1-0 Win Over Milwaukee

Miami, Florida – For the first time this season, the Miami Marlins are winners of three straight series after defeating the Milwaukee Brewers tonight, 1-0, in a classic pitchers duel between Jesus Luzardo and Freddy Peralta. Hopefully, fans got to the game on time or did not take any concession breaks because this was the quickest game this season at an hour and 54 minutes.

Luzardo’s Dominant Outing

Maybe Jesus Luzardo wanted a quick game to watch the Florida Panthers defeat the New York Rangers in the NHL Playoffs, but the 26-year-old southpaw had the best outing of his young MLB career. Luzardo threw eight shutout innings to establish a new career high while surrendering only three hits.

What helped Luzardo pitch deep into this game was his pitch count. Luzardo normally racks up many strikeouts in his outings, but that leads to starts lasting five or six innings. However, today against Milwaukee, Luzardo recorded only four strikeouts but had excellent command of the strike zone. He threw 100 pitches, with 72 being strikes, and did not walk a single batter.

The only jam Luzardo encountered was in the top of the second inning. After a 1-2-3 first inning, Willy Adames led off the second with a single. Gary Sanchez would make it runners on first and second after singling to center with one out. Luzardo bounced back to strike out Jackson Chourio and then picked off Adames, trying to steal third. From then on, Luzardo retired the next 16 batters in a row.

For the first time in his MLB career, Miami Marlins starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo has completed eight innings.

Looking like it'll be Tanner Scott in the ninth inning to close things out.#Marlins lead, 1-0 pic.twitter.com/s56qfZHF5V

— Kevin Barral (@kevin_barral) May 23, 2024

Sanchez would break that streak with a one-out single in the top of the eighth, but that threat was quickly eliminated. Chourio followed up by grounding into a fielder’s choice, and Owen Miller flew out to right to end the frame. That putout marked the end of Luzardo’s night after eight masterful innings, six of which he retired the side in 1-2-3 fashion.

Before today, Luzardo had never pitched more than 7 1/3 innings at the MLB level and has been rolling since coming off the IL. Since his return, he is 2-1 in three appearances with a 0.92 ERA and has struck out 19 batters during that stretch.

Jesús Luzardo breaks down his stellar night on the mound, pitching a career-high eight innings with zero runs allowed. 🎙 pic.twitter.com/x8KU5jG93g

— Bally Sports Florida: Marlins (@BallyMarlins) May 23, 2024

One Is All What the Marlins Needed

In a 1-0 game, it is fair to say that there was little to no action. Both teams combined for eight hits while no Brewer recorded an extra-base hit. Oddly enough, this game was decided on the very first batter of the game for the Marlins, Jazz Chisholm Jr.

Since the Luis Arraez trade, Jazz has been hitting in the leadoff spot and performing well. That rolled over in today’s game, and he must have heard the news of Arraez’s leadoff home run at Cincinnati. Jazz answered with a solo home run over the right field wall on a 3-1 fastball. That home run is a milestone for Jazz, as it’s the 60th long ball of his MLB career.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. – Miami Marlins (7)
pic.twitter.com/zR5pdNvjEj

— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) May 22, 2024

Peralta was just as good as Luzardo on the mound. After giving up the homer, the Marlins only recorded three hits for the remainder of his outing. The right-hander threw seven innings, struck out seven, and his lone blemish was surrendering the Chisholm Jr. home run.

Payback and Redemption

With 100 pitches under his belt, it was unlikely Skip would let Luzardo finish the game, especially given such a slim lead. On cue, Tanner Scott came out of the Miami bullpen to man the ninth inning.

After recording the first two outs, Scott gave up an infield single to William Contreras. Miami’s closer had to face the 2018 MVP, Christian Yelich, for the final out. After winning the game for Milwaukee yesterday with the go-ahead triple in the eighth inning, Miami got their revenge, and Scott induced a groundout to shut the door on the Brewers.

Miami has been playing good baseball lately, winning seven of its last ten games, four of which have been shutouts. Miami is 10-10 in its last twenty games, a drastic improvement compared to April, and will finish the month of May on the road. The Marlins kick off their west coast swing Friday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks for a three-game series, with the first pitch at 9:40 p.m.