Chafin struggles as Arizona loses to Miami 7-4

By STEVEN WINE
AP Sports Writer

MIAMI (AP) — Warming up in the Arizona Diamondbacks bullpen, Andrew Chafin feared he was out of whack. He was right.

The left-handed reliever faced two batters and walked both on four pitches, and they scored in a four-run sixth inning that helped the Miami Marlins rally to win 7-4 on Tuesday night.

The Diamondbacks walked three and hit a batter in the inning to squander a 4-1 lead.

"It’s very disappointing. We had it right in front of us," manager Chip Hale said. "It got tough when you walk two guys in a row. You have to have somebody throwing strikes."

The rough outing raised Chafin’s ERA from 2.61 to 4.35.

"I knew warming up in the bullpen it was going to be tough. I didn’t have a good feel," Chafin (0-1) said. "My sinker was running about three feet to the left. It usually goes down."

Jake Barrett replaced Chafin and gave up a two-run pinch-hit single by Ichiro Suzuki that put Miami ahead. Before that, Barrett hit Derek Dietrich with a pitch, although the Diamondbacks appealed in vain.

"The ball just hit the knob of the bat," catcher Welington Castillo said. "I don’t know what they were looking at in New York but I think that was a foul ball. That changed the inning."

Marcell Ozuna hit a two-run homer for Miami, his third in as many games. Christian Yelich drove in two runs with a fielder’s choice and his second homer.

Castillo hit a two-run homer off Justin Nicolino (2-0), who won despite allowing four runs in six innings. A.J. Ramos pitched a perfect ninth for his eighth save.

Arizona, starting a nine-game trip, has lost four straight.

Diamondbacks starter Patrick Corbin allowed three runs in 5 1-3 innings. Ozuna’s homer ended his night.

"That last pitch really hurts me when we’re up by three and you let them back in the game," Corbin said.

Arizona manufactured two runs in the second, driving them in on a fielder’s choice and Nick Ahmed’s sacrifice fly.

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