MIAMI — Jesús Luzardo and three relievers combined on the Miami Marlins’ third consecutive shutout, an 8-0 win over the New York Mets on Friday night.
Miami pitchers extended their scoreless innings streak to 28, three short of the franchise record in April 2004.
“Obviously, a great run. It took a while into the season for us to get going,” Luzardo said. “It’s something I think we all knew we had in us. This staff was highly regarded going into this year. We’re finally understanding and feeling each other out.”
Luzardo (1-3) scattered five hits and struck out seven over six innings, ending an 0-4 skid over eight starts since beating Milwaukee on Sept. 17. Anthony Bender, Burch Smith and Anthony Maldonado followed with an inning each.
Miami’s opening day starter, Luzardo has allowed two runs and struck out 13 in 12 innings since returning from the injured list on May 11.
“It just shows that he has to be on the attack,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “When he’s on the attack, he’s really, really good in the strike zone.”
New York dropped to 20-24, losing for the sixth time in eight games and falling four games under .500 for the first time since a 1-5 start. The Mets have been shut out five times.
“It comes down to how good Luzardo was tonight,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We’ve seen in the past. When he’s on, he could be tough.”
Nick Fortes homered and had two singles while Josh Bell doubled and singled for the Marlins, who won their second series opener this season. Fortes, who entered hitting .127, has caught the three shutout wins.
“Definitely most proud of the shutouts. I think it’s a very cool accomplishment,” Fortes said. “That’s the number-one priority of my job. I take a lot of pride in that.”
Fortes’ three-run shot capped a four-run second against Christian Scott (0-2) that included Otto López’s sacrifice fly. Before the at-bat, Luzardo told Fortes he would go deep.
“He said, ‘You have a home run against this guy today,’” Fortes recalled. “He must have felt something. Spot on.”
Vidal Brujan scored in the sixth on Josh Walker’s wild pitch and Bryan De La Cruz hit a sacrifice fly.
Scott, of neighboring Parkland, gave up four runs and seven hits in his third major league start.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mets: OF Brandon Nimmo (stomach illness) missed his second straight game.
Marlins: INF Tim Anderson (lower back tightness) worked out Friday before his scheduled rehab games with Triple-A Jacksonville on Saturday and Sunday. … RHP Edward Cabrera (right shoulder impingement) threw a bullpen session Friday.
UP NEXT
RHP Luis Severino (2-2, 3.00) will start the middle game of the series for the Mets on Saturday while the Marlins will go with LHP Braxton Garrett (0-0, 8.44).
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
