Homers propel Diamondbacks to another win in Miami

MIAMI—A third consecutive quality start from Max Meyer and a birthday blast by Matt Mervis weren’t enough on Wednesday night, as the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Marlins for the second consecutive evening, this time by a score of 6-2. 

Once projected as a future bullpen arm by some, Meyer has flipped the script on those assessments. At the time of his draft selection, the right-hander was seen as a potential late-inning reliever due to his lack of size and a two-pitch mix featuring a wipeout slider and an above-average fastball—an arsenal best suited for a closer.

The 26-year-old has started silencing his critics. Following an offseason in which he added both a sweeper and a sinker to his repertoire, he turned heads in spring training with increased velocity and a 3.21 ERA across five starts. That showing earned him a spot in the Marlins’ Opening Day rotation, where he’s since emerged as arguably the club’s most consistent starting pitcher.

Meyer’s outing on Wednesday featured both highs and lows. On the positive side, the right-hander recorded 18 swings-and-misses—14 of them coming via his signature slider—and tied a career-high with eight strikeouts. His fastball velocity also saw an uptick, averaging 95.7 mph and touching as high as 97.4 mph. It was his third consecutive outing of six innings or more. 

"Slider was obviously sharp today as I was able to get under some barrels," the Minnesota native said postgame. "Was throwing pretty hard too to make sure they have to respect the fastball mixed in."

What ultimately cost Meyer and the Marlins were a pair of home runs surrendered to Arizona’s No. 3 and No. 4 hitters, Pavin Smith and Josh Naylor, both of whom took advantage of mistakes by Meyer. In the top of the second, Naylor launched a fastball over the centerfield wall to give the Diamondbacks their first lead of the night. 

"I probably got a little too much plate with Naylor. Wanted to go up, but it was more middle. It was the first pitch he saw all day but I know he's really aggressive. Probably a mistake pitch," Meyer added. 

A few innings later, Smith pulverized a hanging changeup to give his team the lead which they never gave back. "I should have simply went slider to Smith because he already had a good look at the changeup."

Meyer threw his signature slider nearly 50% of the time on Wednesday, noting that he feels he lost a little bit of shape on it recently. Last season, the team mentioned that they would like to see the right-hander depend less on that pitch going forward. 

Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said postgame, "I think we're seeing that trend across the sport. He uses the fastball when appropriate and I think he has the feel for multiple breaking balls so the usage from game to game might change eventually."

Miami's first run of the game came in the bottom of the fourth inning, when Matt Mervis celebrated his birthday in style by launching his sixth home run of the season—all of which have come in April. With the blast, Mervis became the 12th player in franchise history to homer on his birthday.

"I have no idea—I couldn't tell you," the slugging first baseman said with a smile when asked postgame if he had ever hit a home run on his birthday at any level.

Miami would add another run in the bottom of the eighth via an RBI double by Otto Lopez. 

With Wednesday's loss, the Marlins dropped back below the .500 mark at 8–9. They’ll look to avoid a series sweep and salvage the finale of this three-game set on Thursday afternoon. Miami will send right-hander Edward Cabrera to the mound, while Arizona is slated to start veteran left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez.

News & Notes:

• Prior to Wednesday’s game, the Marlins announced they had traded infielder Jonah Bride to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for cash considerations. Bride had been designated for assignment on Tuesday.
   
• Xavier Edwards extended his hitting streak to nine games on Wednesday. The switch-hitting infielder is batting .412 during that span.
   
• Third baseman Connor Norby has returned from his rehab assignment and rejoined the team. He is expected to be reinstated to the active roster for Thursday's game. Graham Pauley has been optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville, sources tell Fish On First. Pauley had been serving as Miami's primary third baseman in Norby's absence.