Weathers' career night, Marlins offense just enough for win #4

MIAMI -- Entering Tuesday night at 3-14, the Marlins were off to their worst 17-game start in franchise history. With all the pitching injuries the club has endured to begin 2024, Miami will need left-hander Ryan Weathers to continue to trend upwards and become a staple in their rotation. He did just that in Tuesday's contest in front of 8,076 at loanDepot Park as he led the fish to a 6-3 win over the San Francisco Giants. The Marlins are now ten games under .500 at 4-14.

Ryan Weathers

Aside from a couple of middle-middle mistakes to some dangerous Giant hitters, Weathers was nothing short of dominant on Tuesday night. The left-hander was getting all of his pitches over for strikes and generated 19 whiffs overall. He used his sweeper 34% of the time which kept the Giants off-balance all game long. 

"He navigated that lineup as good as anybody. It's a really good team, some really good right-handers than can hit lefties well, especially at the top," said manager Skip Schumaker postgame. 

Weathers' final line: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K (career-high). Speaking to media postgame, Ryan mentioned that he has never felt that good in a big league game. "Feeling that rhythm of the delivery, I think that's the best command I've ever probably had in a big league atmosphere," said Weathers. 

Additionally, Weathers incorporated a new-look slider on Tuesday. It's a pitch that sits in the low 90s and is harder than his sweeper. "I used to throw it in 2021 and kind of went away from it and went to the sweeper. I started throwing it in the bullpen this week and I was like 'oh, we're going to find a spot to throw it tonight' and I got a couple swing-and-misses," said Weathers. 

The left-hander's night ended a bit prematurely, though, as while he was warming up to pitch the seventh, manager Skip Schumaker and the head athletic trainer went out to the mound to check on the young pitcher who seemed to be flexing his left hand. He was removed from the game and it was later announced that he left due to cramping in his left hand. 

"I threw a pitch and both my fingers stayed down and it felt like a cramp. I threw another one and my fingers went down again and I was like 'now's not the time to be cramping,' but I'm just thankful it's only a cramp."

Manufacturing runs

Once the Giants took a 2-0 lead after three frames, Miami's offense was able to get to Giants starter Jordan Hicks in the fourth. A couple of frozen-rope doubles courtesy of Luis Arraez and Bryan De La Cruz gave Miami their first run of the game. After De La Cruz stole third base - his first of the season and tenth of his career - Jesus Sanchez drove him in with a fielder's choice to tie the game at two. 

That score remained until the bottom of the sixth when Miami scored again on a fielder's choice by Tim Anderson. A few batters later, Luis Arraez came through with a two-run single to extend the lead to 5-2 and supply the Marlins with some much-needed insurance.

"Hitting the ball is hard, so I just need to put my mind to it and plan to put the ball in play. That's what I do," said Arraez postgame. 

After going back-and-forth one last time, Miami was finally able to hang onto a lead and earn themselves their fourth victory of the season. Tanner Scott closed it out to earn his second save of the season. Calvin Faucher gave Miami five pivotal outs to bridge it to Scott.

"I'm still trying to figure out roles right now," said Schumaker. "We're putting guys in different spots to see who can do it. Some guys run to the stage, some guys run from it. We're trying to figure out who is trying to run to it right now."

Ryan Weathers was the winning pitcher (2-1) while Giants righty Ryan Walker suffered his second loss of the season. The Marlins have a chance to secure their first series victory of the season on Wednesday afternoon as Trevor Rogers will get the start against Keaton Winn.