Marlins get first home win of the 2024 season

[Nick Turok]

Max Meyer was excellent Saturday afternoon to get the Marlins a big win over the division-leading Atlanta Braves. 

MIAMI, FL—In game two of a three-game set, the Marlins pitchers performed well against one of the best offenses in the league. Saturday's game saw the whole Marlins pitching staff shut down the Braves and the hitters were there to back them up, scoring five runs against Chris Sale with huge hits from Josh Bell and Bryan De La Cruz. 

Max Meyer was on the mound—making his fifth career start—and he was outstanding against a Braves offense that is top five among MLB teams in almost every hitting category. Meyer looked good in his previous starts this year, but on Saturday afternoon, he raised the bar even higher (6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K). His swing-and-miss stuff was better than it's ever been and he was able to generate 23 whiffs in six innings.

The standout pitch for Meyer was his changeup. In an at-bat vs. Jarred Kelenic, he threw three straight changeups and got Kelenic swinging at all three for the strikeout.

"The mind works," manager Skip Schumaker said about Meyer. "He is navigating the game as good as anyone we have in the clubhouse, which says a lot with four starts in his whole big league career."

The Marlins came out the gates aggressive against seven-time All-Star Chris Sale. Josh Bell started it off by blasting a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the first inning. Bell on facing Sale: "I was trying to pull him the last time I faced him in Boston last year and his heater got to me a little bit, wasn't able to barrel it in the air. So I changed the approach today and it worked out."

With runners on the corners in the second inning, Vidal Bruján lined a ball to left field that went just off the glove of Kelenic. It was Bruján's first base hit and RBI of the season to put the Marlins up 2-0.

Sale would then lock in and shut the Marlins down in the middle innings. He would need just 20 pitches to get through the third and fourth innings while allowing zero baserunners.

However, Miami's offense broke through again in the fifth. After two straight walks, the bases were loaded for Bryan De La Cruz, who smoked a line drive down the line for a bases-clearing double to put the Marlins up 5-0. 

The Braves would get a run back in the sixth inning on a fielder's choice by Marcell Ozuna, but after that, the Marlins bullpen shut them down. Schumaker went to Calvin Faucher (called up from Triple-A Jacksonville prior to the game), Anthony Bender, and Tanner Scott to close out this one and give the Marlins a 5-1 win and their first home win of the year. 

A big story for Marlins pitching this year has been walks. They have been hurt by them in almost every single loss, but they allowed none in nine innings on Saturday.

The series finale is set for 1:40 p.m. EST on Sunday. Jesús Luzardo will be on the mound for the Marlins. The Braves will send out Charlie Morton. 

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