CHICAGO -- The transition from bullpen to rotation has not only been a smooth one for Jarlin Garcia, but it also has started off as a historic one. Through his first four big league starts, the 25-year-old had allowed just two runs in 23 innings.
It was only a matter of time before Garcia cooled off, and that came on Monday night as he was tagged for seven runs on three homers over four innings in the Marlins' 14-2 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
"It's just part of the game. You're going to have your highs and your lows," Garcia said through an interpreter. "You've just got to learn from your lows and move on to the next start."
The Marlins scratched out two runs in eight innings off Kyle Hendricks to fall to 2-2 on their road trip.

If Garcia has been susceptible to anything this season, it has been to the long ball. Kristopher Bryant knocked a two-run homer in the first, and Javier Baez connected on a three-run shot in the third. Ian Happ went deep on a two-run blast in the fourth before adding a three-run homer in the seventh off Tyler Cloyd.
"I had issues leaving the ball up in the zone when I wanted to go inside on the guys," said Garcia, who surrendered a career-high for runs and homers in an outing. "I left the ball up, but not only up, but in the middle of the plate."

Of the nine runs Garcia has now yielded as a starter, eight have come via four home runs. Heading into the night, Garcia's 0.78 ERA paced all Major League pitchers with at least four starts. Counting 10 relief innings, where he allowed two runs, Garcia's overall ERA was 1.09.
The rough night inflated Garcia's ERA to 2.68.

Although Monday was his first start against the Cubs, Garcia has faced Chicago before. On March 30, in the Marlins' 2-1, 17-inning win at Marlins Park, the lefty threw six scoreless relief frames. He had gone 7 1/3 career innings without allowing a run to the Cubs until Bryant's blast in the first.
Marlins manager Don Mattingly didn't put too much stock in the long relief appearance in the second game of the season.
"It's a different game," Mattingly said. "It's an extra-inning game where everybody is trying to hit a homer to win it in Miami. Those games are different. It's kind of like judging a Spring Training game. You see that a lot in the 12th inning, 13th inning, 14th inning-type games. You'll see a guy come in and kind of roll through it. Jarlin was good that day. He was good after that, also. I just think he made mistakes."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Generally, not a lot of positives can be taken from a relief line of seven runs on eight hits over three innings. But Cloyd, who threw 86 pitches, was able to save the rest of Miami's bullpen by taking the game from the fifth and into the eighth, although he didn't record an out in his final frame.
"It puts us in a lot better shape for tomorrow," Mattingly said. "Tyler's done that twice for us. He really saves our bullpen. He leaves our bullpen intact. It's not a great job as far as being that guy in that position, but he did a great job for us tonight from the standpoint of basically eating up the rest of that game."
Because Miami's starters have been effective the past few weeks, Cloyd hadn't made an appearance since April 16.
"Our starters have been doing great," Cloyd said. "The team has been playing great. We ran into a bad one today. They're going to happen. You wipe them away. We're going to come back tomorrow, and the starters will get back on a roll again. If I don't pitch in 20 days and I'm the forgotten man, it's always a good thing. Hopefully, next time when I come in, I can do a better job and keep the team in the game."

SOUND SMART
Garcia's two runs allowed in his first four starts was a franchise record. Anibal Sanchez gave up five runs in his first four starts in 2006. Garcia has now permitted nine runs in his first five big league starts. Sanchez surrendered six runs through his first five starts, which remains the franchise's best mark.
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
Trailing by eight runs didn't cause J.T. Realmuto to show any less effort on a routine ground ball to short in the sixth inning. In fact, quite the opposite took place. Realmuto showed all-out hustle and beat Addison Russell's throw for an infield single. According to Statcast™, Realmuto's sprint speed was 29.4 feet per second down the line. He had just a 12-percent hit probability on the play, but he improved his batting average to .328.

HE SAID IT
"It wasn't the ballpark. It was just me missing my spots too much, and it cost me." -- Garcia, on the three home runs surrendered
"I thought maybe [Bryant's] home run got him on his heels a bit and I also thought the balk may have bothered him. I'm telling you, young pitchers and balks, there's something about it that can rattle you. He's very talented. We got him on the right day. I like his fastball, his changeup is spectacular. I thought his changeup was up today, and I think that's where we got him." -- Cubs manager Joe Maddon on Garcia
UP NEXT
Jose Urena on Tuesday has a chance to gain some redemption against the Cubs. On Opening Day, the Marlins' ace gave up five runs over four innings in a game Miami ended up losing. Urena is 2-2 with a 4.71 ERA in his career vs. Chicago. Yu Darvish initially was scheduled to start for the Cubs, but the right-hander was placed on the disabled list on Monday. First pitch is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. ET.