PHILADELPHIA -- With the Marlins riding a seven-game win streak and clinging to slim postseason hopes, the last thing left-hander Ryan Weathers wanted to do was halt the club’s momentum.
In his final start of an injury-riddled 2025, Weathers was outdueled by buddy and former teammate Jesús Luzardo in Wednesday night’s 11-1 loss to the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
“Probably the worst I've felt after an outing. [It] just sucks. This feeling's horrible,” Weathers said. “The guys have battled their tails off, and for me not to go out there and give a good start, this sucks.”
Weathers was being a bit hard on himself. Though he surrendered five runs, including three solo homers, on six hits across 4 2/3 innings, his final line didn’t tell the whole story.
With Miami leading 1-0 in the third, Weathers left a four-seamer in National League MVP candidate Kyle Schwarber’s wheelhouse for his second tater of the series. In the fourth, Weathers located a changeup down and away that Edmundo Sosa muscled over the left-center wall for the go-ahead shot. Two batters later, Bryson Stott ambushed Weathers’ first-pitch fastball for a Statcast-projected 441-foot solo homer.
Philadelphia chased Weathers in the fifth after he walked Otto Kemp on his 88th pitch to put a pair of runners on base. Righty Lake Bachar came on in relief and allowed a three-run blast to Sosa to put the Marlins in a 6-1 hole.
“I thought Ryan did a nice job,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “Sixty of [his] 88 [pitches were] strikes, [they] hit a few homers [off him]. I thought his stuff looked good. And again, I know it was unfortunate there, how things finished for him, but he got to a pitch count there in the fifth where I was not comfortable continuing with him there. …
“The line doesn’t diminish what we know Ryan is capable of, right? He's shown premium stuff, and he's a great competitor. And I thought for the most part tonight, he really threw the ball well, and was able to get through some long first couple of innings and kind of settle things in there, and almost get through five.”
Pitching on back-to-back days for the first time, right-hander Valente Bellozo gave up four homers, including a pair of back-to-back taters, in a five-run seventh. Miami permitted a franchise record eight home runs in a game.
It was more than enough for Luzardo, who limited the Marlins to one unearned run and fanned 10 batters over seven frames.
Luzardo and Weathers, who still remain in touch, both missed substantial time due to injury with the 2024 Marlins. While the former has put together one of his best seasons in ‘25, the latter has been limited to eight starts.
After his fourth Spring Training start, Weathers sustained a left flexor muscle strain and didn’t make his season debut until May 14. He got just four more starts before a fluke accident on June 7 kept him sidelined until Sept. 11. Wednesday was his third start back from the 60-day IL.
“Zeus is one of my best friends I've had in baseball,” said Weathers, who struck out eight and walked two. “I've loved seeing his success, and obviously, I would love to have half of his success. He's a great competitor and awesome teammate, awesome guy. Sucks that he got the win tonight. Just got to take this game as a building block. I don't want to feel this way again after a game. It's a little different.
“I've pitched where I don't have the stuff, and that was why I got hit. It really stinks when you know you have the stuff, and you come out of the game feeling like this because of pitches where you didn't hit your spot and a team like this is going to make you pay for it.”
With the Mets’ and D-backs defeats, the Marlins’ wild ride lives to see another day. Before Opening Day, FanGraphs predicted Miami to win 69.6 games and finish last in the NL East. The Marlins had a 1.3 percent chance at making the postseason.
No one expected the ballclub to still be in it with four games remaining. Miami is guaranteed at least a 15-win improvement from 2024.
“Hopefully, the boys keep going, we get to game 162 and have something riding on it,” Weathers said. “And I hope [McCullough] sticks me in the bullpen.”