Error, 3 homers chase Koehler
Rough outing dooms chance for series sweep
CINCINNATI – When Tom Koehler returned this month from his banishment to the minor leagues, his effectiveness stabilized and confidence partially rebuilt, there was a hope he would resemble his old self, the every-fifth-game grinder who had been a rotation stalwart for going on a half-decade.
It hasn’t happened. The right-handed Koehler was roughed up again Sunday, this time by the Cincinnati Reds in the Miami Marlins’ 6-3 loss, a missed chance at a series sweep.
Koehler allowed six runs (five earned) in 5 2⁄ innings. 3
His ERA, which was 7.04 when hewas demoted, is 7.92.
“It’s been tough. I feel like I’m throwing the ball better than the box scores show, and at some point the ball has got to bounce in the other direction,” Koehler said. “I’m going to keep working and I’m going to keep being both mentally and physically prepared, and when it’smy turn to take the ball, I’m going to take it until they tell me it’s notmy turn.”
The unearned run was the result of Koehler’s own throwing error, which manager DonMattingly called “pretty much the turning point of the game.”
Koehler fielded Joey Votto’s bouncing comebacker and potential inning-ending double play, but threw wide of second base and into center field. BillyHamilton scored.
Nine pitches and another run later, Koehler got the last out. ItcamewhenGiancarlo Stanton threw out Votto trying to advance to third — one of two outfield assists
from Stanton on the day (the other cutting down a runner at the plate).
“That play probably ended up costing us the game,” Koehler said of his error. “That’s a play I have to make. Throwing that ball away deflates the rest of the guys. You have to at least get one [out] there. If we turn two, it could totally change the momentum on our side. For me, that was just completely unacceptable.”
Of the Reds’ nine hits against Koehler, three were home runs, all barely escaping the hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park.
The last, on Koehler’s 102nd pitch, was from Tucker Barnhart to rightcenter. Earlier in the sixth inning, Eugenio Suarez hit one sky-high but only 341 feet from home, far enough to land in the first rowin left field.
“Solo homers happen,” Koehler said. “You can live with them, especially here.”
At 5 2⁄ innings, this was 3 the longest ofKoehler’s four starts since returning to the Marlins. In that span, he has allowed 19 earned runs in 17
1⁄ innings with a 1.90 3 WHIP.
“They’re all right I guess,” Mattingly said of Koehler’s outings. “Yeah. Been all right.”
A.J. Ellis’ solo home run in the fourth accounted for the Marlins’ only run against Sal Romano, a righthanded rookie making his fourth start. He struck out sevenandallowedthreehits in six innings.
Romano needed 43 pitches to get through the first two innings, but settled in to retire 12 of his final 13 batters.
“He pretty much overpowered us,” Mattingly said. “He was just better than us, honestly.”
TheMarlins andKoehler will get a chance to redeem themselves against Romano and the Reds, respectively, in a rematch Friday atMarlins Park during the teams’ four-game series.
That game will be a test for Miami, to see if they can make adjustments and, as Mattingly put it, “do anything more with him.”
Koehler, likewise, is looking for less frustration.
“Everything’s been frustrating. I’m frustrated with the whole thing, the whole game,” Koehler said. “No one is going to feel sorry for me. The Reds aren’t when I see them again on Friday. Guys in here aren’t going to feel sorry for me. I just have to keep going out there and attacking hitters and hope this turns around.”