MIAMI — Chicago White Sox center fielder Luisangel Acuña and right fielder Tristan Peters were both in the area of Agustín Ramírez 's fourth-inning liner to right-center.
But neither outfielder gave way until the final seconds and the Sox couldn't make the play, resulting in a double that gave Miami momentum and runners on second and third with no outs.
"It was a difficult play," Acuña said through an interpreter. "I called for the ball, but he couldn't hear me."
The Marlins quickly capitalized with a game-tying two-run double by Liam Hicks . The Marlins scored two more runs in the inning, which featured two throwing errors by Acuña, and defeated the Sox 9-2 in front of 6,667 on Tuesday at loanDepot park.
It's the second time in five games that some defense sequences in the outfield came back to bite the Sox (1-4). A rough first inning on Saturday contributed to a 6-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field.
"Overall it's been OK, there's been some isolated plays here that we've got to clean up and we understand that and guys have to get better," manager Will Venable said when asked about the outfield defense as a whole through five games. "We've got to continue to work, and these guys are putting in the work. Focused on the right things, just have to make some more plays."
The Sox entered the fourth with a 2-0 lead thanks to back-to-back RBI singles in the third inning by Munetaka Murakami and Andrew Benintendi .
Xavier Edwards began the Marlins' fourth with an infield single, their first hit of the game against Sox starter Erick Fedde . And then came Ramírez's double on the playable ball, followed by Hicks' two-run double.
"Tough play there where (Acuña) called it, Tristan didn't hear him," Venable said. "Some miscommunication."
Fedde struck out Otto Lopez , but Owen Caissie followed with an RBI single to center to give the Marlins a 3-2 lead.
Caissie advanced to second when Acuña's throw to the plate skipped away. The Marlins took advantage of the error when the next batter, Heriberto Hernández , drove in Caissie with a single to center. Acuña was charged with another error when his throw to the plate again got away, this time allowing Hernández to move up to second base.
"Some throws that got away from him, (and) we didn't back up home plate," Venable said. "Kind of snowballed on us there. (Center field is) a position where he's still developing, but that wasn't all on Luisangel."
Acuña said of the throws, "I just tried to stay aggressive. My throw got away a little bit, and couldn't put it to the plate."
The Sox never rebounded from the rocky fourth, which included 34 pitches by Fedde. The right-hander went five innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits with four strikeouts and one walk.
"My stuff felt good, my body felt good," Fedde said. "Those are good things going into a season. Just got to be a little better at stopping momentum as it gets going. But one to build off of."
Tuesday marked a return to the Sox rotation for Fedde, who spent a portion of the 2024 season with the team before being sent to the St. Louis Cardinals as part of a three-team trade . He signed a one-year deal with the Sox in February.
"Fedde was really good, he was really efficient, did a good job of controlling counts," Venable said. "When he did get behind, he was able to get back in counts and was really efficient there. Obviously in the fourth inning, (34) pitches, would have had him go deeper in that game had he not had to throw those pitches.
"Put him in a tough spot, but I thought he was really good tonight."
Offensively, the Sox stalled after the third inning. They finished with five hits, none after the third inning.
"Against (Marlins) starter ( Janson Junk ), I thought we did a nice job," Venable said. "That guy's got good stuff, throws a lot of strikes. I thought we did a nice job of being selective, putting some good swings on some good pitches. (The third inning), had a couple of nice base hits, took what they gave us there.
"Once they turned the ball over to their leverage guys, we just couldn't really get anything going."
