Bellozo K's 7 and Ramírez nabs Ohtani, but Marlins drop finale to Dodgers

MIAMI – It was hard to find a more proud pair than the Marlins’ battery of Valente Bellozo and Agustín Ramírez when the right-hander stepped off the loanDepot park mound to an ovation on Wednesday night.

Bellozo had allowed just one hit across 5 1/3 scoreless innings in an eventual 10-1 loss to the Dodgers. In doing so, he joined righty Max Meyer as the only Marlins starters to go that deep into a ballgame and not be scored upon.

“Today, changeup and sweeper were really good, cutter,” Bellozo said. “Like I said, every pitch was really good. Velo was good, and I think that was a great day for me to prove versus really, I think, the best lineup in Major League Baseball right now. We have good days, too. They have their bad days, too. That's the game. I think today was my good day.”

Miami elected to replace Bellozo, who had walked Shohei Ohtani in their two matchups, after just 76 pitches in a move he anticipated. Recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville ahead of the series finale for his second MLB appearance, southpaw Cade Gibson surrendered a triple to Ohtani. Two batters later, Freddie Freeman broke the scoreless deadlock with an RBI single.

The Dodgers would then break the game open with a six-run seventh.

“He did a terrific job,” manager Clayton McCullough said of Bellozo. “I think with where he got us to, and what part of the lineup they were at, and what we had, we felt really good with the ability to use what we had left in areas that we felt very good with, and that [with] Valente – couldn't have asked anything more.”

But Bellozo might be shuttled back to Triple-A Jacksonville soon.

Left-hander Ryan Weathers is scheduled for his third start of a rehab assignment, and second with Triple-A Jacksonville, on Thursday. If all goes well, that would put him in line for reinstatement on Tuesday night against the Cubs.

Miami plans to keep the rotation in order, going with righties Meyer, Edward Cabrera and Sandy Alcantara this weekend on the South Side of Chicago. That would mean righty Cal Quantrill for Monday’s series opener at Wrigley Field before Bellozo’s spot comes up again on Tuesday.

After taking over as the fifth starter for righty Connor Gillispie (8.65 ERA in six starts), Bellozo was atypically wild on Friday (5 ER, 4 BB) against the A’s before bouncing back vs. the defending champions.

“I think I have thrown really good ball during the season here or [at] Triple-A,” Bellozo said. “Thank God for the health, and I think it proves a lot. Obviously, I don't control their decisions. Everything that is [in] my control is on the mound. Yeah, keep going.”

Bellozo credited batterymate Ramírez, who also worked with him at Triple-A, for his performance. Following Ohtani’s leadoff walk in the first, Ramírez erased him with his first caught stealing in the big leagues.

Here were the Statcast metrics on the play:

• Pop time: 1.98 seconds (fourth-fastest of career)
• Exchange: 0.80 seconds
• Arm strength: 78.9 mph (second-fastest throw)

The Marlins entered the series finale having given up 63 steals, most in MLB by 20. Ohtani became the first member of the 50/50 club last season, and he had been 10-for-11 on stolen-base attempts in 2025. Ramírez admitted that correcting his exchange technique has been a point of emphasis with catching coach Joe Singley.

“It feels so good,” Ramírez said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. “That's a legend, that's Ohtani. It feels great, and that's why I've been working on that, and feel happy for that.”

Since the Marlins reinstated Nick Fortes from the injured list, the breakdown in starts has been as follows:

• Fortes (2)
• Liam Hicks (1)
• Ramírez (1)

Rather than option Ramírez to Triple-A, he will continue to develop defensively and slug (.963 OPS) in the Majors. McCullough has been impressed by the rookie’s ability to slow the game down, paired with his pregame and in-game work.

“We talked a lot about Gus, the big part of his development now moving forward, ability to continue behind the plate,” McCullough said. “He's received very well for the work he's putting in with Joe, working hard on his throwing, and that was a really strong, accurate throw today to get Shohei. So credit to him and Joe for their continued work there, and the emphasis being placed upon that. Continuing on as the season goes, place a lot of emphasis on tightening up all areas behind the plate. But he's doing a really nice job back there for us.”