OAK 0, MIA 4: Cabrera and Sánchez play big roles in Flashback Friday shutout win

After dropping two out of three against the San Diego Padres, the Fish welcomed the Oakland Athletics, who are the worst team in baseball as they entered with a record of 12-46. Edward Cabrera shined for the Marlins as he struck out 10 and the most encouraging sign, only allowed one walk. Along with Cabrera, Jesus Sánchez shined going three-for-four with a opposite field home run and two base hits. He also shined defensively to keep the A's off the scoreboard.

Cabrera did exactly what he had to do against a weak opponent. Going six innings, striking out 10, walking one, and only giving up four hits is as good as it gets.

"Yeah, he's had a couple of really good starts," said Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker. "This one was right at the top. I just think, one walk, six out of seven three-two counts that were strikes, so that shows you a lot that he dialed it in and focused and when you have those three-ball counts, you have to focus and let them put it in play, or strike him out, and he did."

A big factor in Cabrera’s start was his fastball command. He used it to set up his changeup which he threw 27 times to generate nine of his 18 whiffs.

"He mixed and matched and kept a lot of lefties off balance," said Schumaker, "and the changeup was really good."

When speaking to Cabrera postgame, he said that attacking the zone is what worked for him, but most importantly, he took pride in the length of his outing.

"I have to thank God for that performance," said Edward Cabrera through translator Luis Dorante Jr. "Greatest thing of all was that I was able to get to that sixth inning and with only one walk, so I did feel very good today."

As for the Marlins offense, they were able to quickly get to opener Shintaro Fujinami. After allowing a single to Bryan De La Cruz with two outs, Jesus Sánchez, who just recently came back from a hamstring injury, crushed a two-run home run to give the Marlins an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.

"We needed the lefty bat bad," said Schumaker. "He's been playing good defense, running the bases right, getting two hits against the lefty, he got a home run opposite field, and all three hits run the opposite direction. I mean, it was a really good night."

Sánchez would end the night going three-for-four with two more base hits along with a 95.2 MPH throw to get speedster Esteury Ruiz attempting to go to third on a Cabrera throwing error.

"The thrill wasn't great." said Schumaker. "I'll be honest with you. It was like an in-between hop, but the fact that (Sánchez) was there, that's what we're talking about. He was there, he didn't anticipate it being a bad throw, he just didn't watch the paint dry."

"It feels good to start doing things right where we left off," said Sánchez through translator Luis Dorante Jr. following the game. "I think it's a matter of trust. Once you have that trust and confidence, you got to continue doing what you're doing right and then just continue working hard and playing with all your teammates."

After Fujinami opened the game, the A's went with Hogan Harris. He pitched well for the most part, but gave up two earned runs on five hits and pitched five innings while striking out five.

Harris only mistake came in the bottom of the fifth inning. After Jacob Stallings got a base hit, with two outs, Jorge Soler hit a 107.2 MPH RBI double to drive in Stallings and extend the Miami lead, 3-0. The two-out rally continued with Bryan De La Cruz who hit an RBI single to make it 4-0, but was caught trying to go for second base after the throw from home came to make an attempt to get Soler.

"I was looking for the fastball, said Soler following the game. "Hoping he didn't throw the fastball becasue he has a really good fastball, but I was also looking at the changeup, because in my last at-bat, he had struck me out with the changeup."

On top of the nice night that Sanchez had, his Dominican bash bro De La Cruz also had a nice night going two-for-four with an RBI in the game.

"DLC has been taken out after good and bad, leadoff, three-hole, doesn't matter. He's been really good for us," said Skip Schumaker.

After Cabrera, the Marlins went with relievers JT Chargois, Andrew Nardi, and Tanner Scott to finish off the shutout. The bullpen combined for four strikeouts and only one hit allowed, which was off of Tanner Scott.

Manager Skip Schumaker Postgame Press Conference

Miami took game one of the three-game set to improve to a 30-28 record. Miami finds themselves in third place in the NL East.

Next for the Marlins, Eury Perez will take the mound as Luis Medina goes up against him. Game time is at 4:10pm and it is a Legacy Saturday.