Marlins dominated by Schwellenbach, shut out for first time in 2025

Max Meyer was good, but Spencer Schwellenbach was great. The Atlanta Braves are winless no more after taking a lead in the bottom of the third inning of their home opener and never looking back as they defeated the Miami Marlins by a final score of 10-0. It marked the first time that Miami has been shut out in 2025.

On the bright side, Meyer was the first Marlins starter this season to complete six innings of work. Outside of a three-run third inning, Meyer settled in and would finish posting a career-high eight strikeouts, all of them swinging. Five of his eight strikeouts came on the slider, which also generated eight whiffs.

Meyer's four-seam fastball averaged 95.1 mph, topping out at 96.4 mph. His slider (33%) and four-seam (25%) were his most-used pitches. Meyer's sweeper and sinker, the two new pitches added to his arsenal, had the lowest usage rates on Friday.

Four of the eight hits surrendered by Meyer came in the third. Designated hitter Marcell Ozuna put the Braves on the scoreboard with a two-run double. Austin Riley knocked in the third run on an RBI single.

Meyer would go on to retire eight straight before hitting Riley with a pitch (or did he?) in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Meanwhile, Spencer Schwellenbach had himself a career night, throwing eight shutout innings, allowing two hits, no walks and striking out ten, one shy of a career high. The first Marlins hit off of the Braves righty came in the bottom of the fifth inning on a Liam Hicks single. Out of 99 pitches, Schwellenbach threw 73 of them for strikes. His four-seam fastball was unstoppable, generating 11 whiffs.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Braves tacked on two more runs off of George Soriano. Marcell Ozuna and Matt Olson went back-to-back for their first home runs of the season. Luarbert Arias entered the game for the Marlins in the inning that followed, but was unable to complete the inning, recording one out and allowing five earned runs. The Marlins deployed their first position player pitcher this season, Javier Sanoja.

Through their first seven games (all losses), the Braves had maxed out at five runs. They doubled that in this series opener. They also doubled their previous season high with 16 hits.

With the loss, the Marlins are now 4-4 on the season. Cal Quantrill will take the mound on Saturday for Miami as he looks to rebound after a rough debut outing, in which he allowed six runs against the New York Mets. Braves prospect AJ Smith-Shawver will make his second start of the season. First pitch is at 7:15 pm.