Fish flop in second game in Queens

After allowing 11 runs over his first two starts of the season, Braxton Garrett settled in to allow just one over his next two outings and 14 innings pitched. Then came his first June outing, one that saw him surrender five in just 2 ⅔ innings of work on June 5. The left-hander's 2024 campaign continues to be a mixed bag. While the defense failed to do him any favors, Garrett's latest effort proved more of the same in the Marlins' 10-4 loss to the Mets.

The Marlins, now 23-44, have a minus-102 run differential, third-worst in MLB. 

Though he would venture further than his previous outing—recording two outs in the bottom of the fifth—the final line still proved another disappointing day at the office for a guy who proved Miami's most consistent arm a season ago (4.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 4 K, 2 HR).

"He pitched better than what I think his line shows," said Skip Schumaker, largely eluding to what was an overall poor aesthetic performance from the club's defense. 

"I felt crappy about it either way," noted Garrett.

Of note was the presence of Garrett's curveball a pitch that historically fared poorly for the left-hander in his parts of five seasons. Featuring the pitch just 3.2-percent of the time in his first five outings, Wednesday saw Garrett's curveball account for 10.1-percent (9) of his 89 pitches on the evening.

New York would break out early against Garrett when Harrison Bader's fourth home run of the season in the bottom of the first landed in the left-center field seats. Now with an ERA of 15.00 in the first inning this season, Garrett has been scored upon immediately in four of his six starts to begin 2024.

The Marlins would respond quickly, though, plating a pair of runs off fellow southpaw David Peterson (5 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K) to tie the score at 2-2 in the top of the second. Unfortunately, Miami's fortunes would only grow bleak from thereon out.

Following a Tyrone Taylor leadoff single—the first of four hits for New York's left fielder—an error at the hands of third baseman Emmanuel Rivera exacerbated the jam. Taylor would be chased home by a Francisco Alvarez single before Garrett uncorked a wild pitch that gave Mark Vientos and Alvarez an extra 90 feet. Otto Lopez's second error of the season on a ground ball through his legs allowed Vientos to trot home in what ultimately wound up being a three-run second for the Metropolitans. 

Garrett would settle into a short-lived groove that saw him hold New York scoreless in the third and fourth innings, with Miami cutting the deficit to 5-4 following run-scoring hits from Bryan De La Cruz and Jazz Chisholm Jr. before former teammate Starling Marte put the cap on Braxton Garrett's night with his first home run in a month of June that has seen him hit .435 with an 1.176 OPS.

Francisco Lindor, New York's franchise shortstop, would kick off a two-run bottom of the eighth with his 14th career home run against the Fish. Lindor now owns a career .278/.358/.513/.871 line in 262 PA against Miami. Marte would plate New York's 10th and final run with a single to center.

Of Note

- Wednesday marked the long-awaited return of JT Chargois, who authored 1 ⅓ scoreless innings in his season debut. Chargois posted a 3.61 ERA in 46 games for Miami in 2023.

- Braxton Garrett's first-inning ERA of 15.00 ranks second-highest among the 158 pitchers to make at least six starts this season, trailing only Sixto Sánchez (16.71).

Looking Ahead

Miami will wrap up their stay in the Big Apple Thursday night as they look to secure their first series victory since taking two of three from Milwaukee from May 20-22. Roddery Muñoz (1-2, 5.95 ERA) will make his fifth career big league start and second since being recalled from Triple-A. Opposing him, Luis Severino (4-2, 3.25 ERA) will make his third career appearance against the Marlins; he limited hitters to a .159 BAA in those two outings while a member of the Yankees.

First pitch from Citi Field is slated for 7:10 EST.