Nate Karzmer

MIAMI—Janson Junk has capitalized on every opportunity that has been presented to him in his short time as a Marlin. Signed as a minor league free agent with an invite to spring training in early February, Junk showed feel for every pitch in his arsenal in Jupiter. He spent the first two months of the regular season in Triple-A prior to having his contract selected in late May. The call-up came under unglamorous circumstances as Clayton McCullough needed a long relief arm to tail his starting arms. Junk, the 29-year-old right-hander, was everything Miami’s newest skipper could’ve asked for and more. In five outings across a handful of weeks, he boasted a 2.78 ERA, going a minimum of four innings in each appearance. With Ryan Weathers and Max Meyer both suffering injuries that would sideline them for a substantial amount of time, the biggest opportunity was presented to Junk on Friday night from Miami. Fresh off a sweep of the Mets, division rival Atlanta entered town to kick off a weekend set, and McCullough gave the much-deserved rotational promotion to Junk, lining him up for his first start on a big league mound since April 12, 2023. Sticking to the status quo, Junk once again showed why he was more than deserving of the nod. Just as he did in the bullpen, Junk was masterful with his command, throwing an absurd 61 of his 79 pitches for strikes in addition to 80% of his first offerings. Junk forfeited just one run across his five innings of work against an all-world Braves offense, setting the tone for an excellent 6-2 all-around victory for the Fish. “It was fun,” Junk said. “Throwing my offspeeds for strikes early and then playing the fastball off that. I think that's the biggest thing. I mean, I'm just trying to be aggressive in the zone no matter who it is, not really caring about who it is, but just getting that strike one, as it's way better throwing a lot of strikes, not walking guys. So that's my goal every single time going out there." Junk's ERA now sits at 2.60, and with more moments on the horizon, the former 27th-round pick can continue his momentum in his new role. "We saw the same today as what he has shown in the other roles he had been used in up to this point—was quality stuff, the ability to mix pitches, get misses, pound the strike zone," said his manager. "We expected he would be equally as prepared and would be able to go out there and throw like he has." Miami’s bats provided Junk with a cushion in the third after Agustín Ramírez tattooed a fastball from new 20-year-old Didier Fuentes, the youngest major leaguer to start a game on the mound since Julio Urías did it in Dodger blue almost nine years ago. Ramírez, additionally, was good for another RBI in the seventh, matching a career-high with four. Miami saw the youngster well all night, stinging ten hard-hit balls in Fuentes’ first five innings in MLB. Junk received additional help from his defense. Otto Lopez and Dane Myers delivered two of the most impressive plays from Marlins defenders all year, even with the high bar they’ve set as a group. Lopez was first, leaving his feet and making a throw from the ground to nab the speedy Michael Harris II at first. ”I was expecting that to be in the hole, but see him come up with it, make the throw from the knees on the line, or one hop, that was very impressive from him,” said Junk. Myers followed with a home run robbery of Marcell Ozuna in center. He was unable to secure the catch, but forced Ozuna to settle for a double on a ball that would have landed in the shrub-filled batter's eye. The inning ended with Ozuna left stranded in scoring position. The Marlins and Braves are back in action for game two of three on Saturday afternoon at 4:10. Eury Pérez, making his third start of the season after recovering from Tommy John surgery, toes the slab opposite Grant Holmes. Pérez conceded a lone run in four innings of work in his previous start a Sunday ago in D.C., but was unable to strike a batter out for the second time in his big league career. View full article

TAMPA—Anthony Veneziano trail-blazed an unfamiliar bullpen game for the Marlins in Sunday afternoon’s matinee from George M. Steinbrenner Field with a spectacularly commanded two-inning scoreless performance in his first start as a big leaguer. Ronny Henriquez and Cade Gibson followed with shutout innings of their own, before bulk man Valente Bellozo took the hill in the fifth. While the steady second-year righty allowed just two hits—both to veteran first baseman Yandy Díaz—they were crucial. Díaz reset the game in his third at-bat with a game-tying, opposite-field homer. In the ensuing at-bat in a still-tied contest, the Cuban first baseman crushed a 107.3 mph double to left before being pinch-run for by José Caballero. Kevin Cash’s judgment proved to be the correct move, as the eventual game-tying run in the form of the speedster came two batters later on a Josh Lowe sacrifice fly. Closer Pete Fairbanks got the day off, yet Edwin Uceta had no issues in the final frame, securing a 3-2 win and series victory for the home team. Courtesy of the loss, Miami falls to a cruel 1-6 in June and back to 15 games under .500. The 2025 Citrus Series officially ends in a 3-3 tie, marking the first time the Fish have not lost a full-season series to Tampa Bay since 2018. Marlins skipper Clayton McCullough had high praise for his ‘pen when addressing reporters postgame. “Veneziano, starting off, did a great job,” said McCullough. "With those kinds of games, things have to go your way. And guys have to go out there and get outs to make that work. Between what Veneziano did starting off, Ronny and Cade, coming back on back-to-back days...and then what Bellozo was able to do, going three-plus innings in that part of the game. They all did what we were hoping for—to be able to give us a chance there at the end”. Much like the 101-degree feel-like temperature outside, Miami’s bats came out of the gates still scorching from a day ago, as Otto Lopez drove in his fifth run of June three batters into the contest. The Fish tacked on an additional run in the fifth, courtesy of Jesús Sánchez’s sixth RBI in a little under 24 hours. Unlike Saturday, though, the Rays were able to contain the Marlins' offense, thanks to great efforts from starter Drew Rasmussen (6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR, 74 NP) and a trifecta of relievers. Apart from Díaz, it was Heriberto Hernández, still just a week into his MLB career, who enjoyed the biggest day at the plate. Hernández became one of three players since the start of 2024 to record a 3-for-3 or better game in his first seven games, joining ex-Marlin farmhand and current Ray Jake Mangum and teammate Agustín Ramírez. “Bert's taking some really aggressive swings,” raved McCullough. “(He’s) someone that performed very well in the minor leagues in the past. Good hitter. I think it's good you're seeing him being aggressive on good pitches to hit”. After taking three games to adjust to pitching at the highest level, Hernández has been one of Miami’s most consistent bats. Dating back to the start of the month, the 25-year-old’s OPS sits at an even 1.000. Miami’s second stop in their three-city road trip is the site for potentially the most anticipated game all season. Monday night’s 6:40 bout from Pittsburgh sees the long-awaited return of phenom Eury Pérez to a big league mound, 14 months after undergoing Tommy John surgery. At the tail end of his press conference, McCullough praised Pérez’s for completing the challenging rehab, as well as singing the praises of the medical professionals who were vital in his star’s return. “Eury has put in a lot of hard work to get himself back to this point—medical team, the strength and conditioning team. Whenever someone's coming back from a long-term injury like this, it takes a lot of hands that are a part of that process to get back”. Across eight rehab appearances between Jupiter and Jacksonville, Pérez was masterful, sporting a sub-two ERA in 22 ⅔ innings. In his rookie year of 2023, the youngest player in the sport at the time finished his season with a 3.15 ERA in 19 outings. Opposite Pérez is right-hander Mike Burrows, making his fourth start. Burrows' second year as a Pirate has been subpar through his first three outings, forfeiting eight earned runs. View full article

TAMPA—The Rays faithful were bringing it. Behind a five-homer effort from their offense and a four-run comeback two innings prior, Tampa Bay had all the momentum entering the bottom of the ninth in a 10-10, exhilarating ballgame against their state-mates. A sellout crowd of 10,046 at George M. Steinbrenner Field took to their feet, waving baby blue Evan Longoria giveaway shirts as rally towels while "Let's Go Rays" chants echoed throughout the stadium. If you closed your eyes and just listened, it’d be difficult to believe that Saturday afternoon’s game between the Rays and visiting Marlins was in a minor league ballpark. Desperately needing outs with two elite bats looming in Jonathan Aranda and Junior Caminero and his team in the midst of a draining five-game swoon, Marlins manager Clayton McCullough put his faith in southpaw Cade Gibson, who entered the bout with only nine major league appearances under his belt. "Cade has thrown the ball extremely well to this point. He's been up here and been in some tough spots, and it doesn't faze him," McCullough proclaimed postgame when asked of his decision to go with the lesser-experienced Gibson. "He throws strikes. You knew he was gonna go out there and pound the zone." If anything, the raucous mob in the stands aided the rookie rather than fluster him. "[During the game] I was like, ‘this crowd's electric right now,’” Gibson told Fish On First postgame. “When you're in the industry of this and being a competitor, you want the ball in that situation.” Channeling his competitive mindset, Gibson displayed incredible maturity and composure in the ninth (and eventual tenth). Following a 1-2-3, six-pitch first frame that moderately muted fans, fellow rookie Heriberto Hernández provided Gibson with a one-run lead heading into extra innings. Two sensational plays up the middle from Xavier Edwards later, Gibson was chasing just a single out to secure his first big league victory. A swinging strikeout of Josh Lowe provoked a passionate scream and fist pump from the Ruston, Louisiana native. “I love it. That gives me confidence to go out there and execute,” a grateful Gibson said when asked what it meant to get the nod from his skipper. “I fully trust in my arsenal to get the job done…I'm grateful for the opportunity and that they trusted me in that moment.” TUE3RGRfQjFOTUZBMUFCVnBJU2s5QkQwbFJSMThEV2c9PV9BZ0ZTVVZSWEFBQUFYUWRVQUFBSEFBUlVBQUFCVzFVQUMxTlhVMWRVQndjSENWY0M=.mp4 For Gibson, that fierce state of mind has been ingrained from his time at Louisiana Tech, where he attended from 2021-22, succeeding a two-year stint at NAIA LSU-Shreveport. “I didn't have any siblings growing up, so I didn't get to compete with anybody like that. But I've just kind of had it my whole life. I just love being in the arena and getting after it,” said Gibson with a smirk. “I think at Louisiana Tech, my coaching staff there, they really instilled it in me. They're just fiery competitors. They want to win at all costs. They're kind of old school in the way that they don't look at the numbers as much. They just want to win the ballgame. However you do it, it doesn't matter. Just go win.” In his redshirt senior year back home in northern Louisiana, Gibson garnered second-team All-Conference USA honors following a 93/19 K/BB, 4.87 ERA campaign as a weekend starter. Miami’s front office was impressed enough to select Gibson with the 292nd pick in the 2022 MLB Draft. The ex-Bulldog’s passionate way of playing the game has led to extraordinary success thus far in the bigs. With his first win now in the books, plus another scoreless inning on Sunday, Gibson boasts a minuscule 1.00 ERA in 11 outings since his late April call-up. That mark is the lowest among all 21 Marlins pitchers who have appeared in a game this season. Even in a small sample, it's a stunning development for somebody who wasn't even invited to big league spring training this year. Gibson specifically credited the assistance he has received from Marlins coaches on his offspeed offerings. “When I needed to evacuate the zone, need to get it down—whether it be a curveball or sweeper—I need to get it off, or a fastball, I needed to get above the zone," remembered Gibson. "So, I just think it's just knowing where to put the pitches in certain situations that they've really honed in on." As McCullough continues his closer-by-committee approach, Gibson’s appearances by inning will likely continue to vary. However, the young left-hander’s recent outing confirmed that, no matter what situation, what opponent or what ballpark it’s in, he will be as fearless and cutthroat as any arm coming out of his 'pen. View full article

TAMPA—The Marlins' week-and-a-half long offensive struggle and five-game slide have met an exhilarating, relieving end. They entered Saturday having totaled eleven runs during their latest losing streak and just twelve in the past week. In game two against their in-state rival Rays on Saturday afternoon, they erupted for eleven more, tying a season-high in runs scored. Both the Marlins and Tampa Bay dug out of four-run deficits in thrilling fashion, culminating in a 10-10 stalemate heading into extra innings, where manager Clayton McCullough’s decision to pinch-hit Heriberto Hernández for the hot-hitting Liam Hicks paid off. Hernández’s run-scoring single ended up being the first game-winning hit of the rookie’s career, but it would’ve been all for not if not for two downright stellar defensive plays from Xavier Edwards up the middle. Rookie Cade Gibson finished things off out of the bullpen, recording his first big league win and sending a sellout Rays crowd home disappointed with a swinging strikeout of Josh Lowe. With the victory, the Fish collected their first since exactly one week ago, now sitting at a 24-38 record. “That was a real team effort today,” said McCullough. “I think just the resiliency to hang in there when it could have gone the other way early. To fight back and find a way to win, it’s a good day for us.” TUE3RGRfVjBZQUhRPT1fQWdGU1VWUlhBQUFBWFFkVUFBQUhBQVJVQUFBQlcxVUFDMU5YVTFkVUJ3Y0hDVmND (1).mp4 Unlike Friday’s game, game two was high intensity from the very beginning. You’d be hard-pressed not to find an Evan Longoria jersey in every direction you looked, as the greatest player in franchise history ended his 16-year big league career in Tampa. Longoria was honored on the field to thunderous applause and noise as the three-time All-Star threw out the first pitch. Just a half-inning later, all eyes would once again return to the pitcher's mound, but for all the wrong reasons. As Marlins starter Ryan Weathers was finishing up his warmup pitches, Nick Fortes released a strike to the top of his starter's head in an attempt to throw the ball down to second. Weathers immediately went down, but stayed in the game after being consulted by trainers. It appeared that the scare would fuel Weathers after a quick first, but it quickly became clear that something wasn’t right. The southpaw ran into trouble in the second and third, allowing a three-run shot to Christopher Morel and forfeiting plenty of baserunners. More worrisome, though, Weathers’ velocity saw a significant drop-off from innings two to three, with his four-seamer topping out around 93 compared to his season average of 97.5. The 25-year-old's shortest outing of the season came to a close after three frame for precautionary reasons. The Marlins training staff evaluated his head, not his arm, as theorized. “Right now we think everything is okay with Ryan,” asserted McCullough. “I just felt like, in that moment with how things were going, and what I was seeing there, that the best thing for him and us was to make a move there.” With Weathers’ departure and sudden four-run deficit, the burden fell on a struggling Marlins offense to pick up the slack. Miami’s bats hadn’t compiled more than four runs in a game since May 28, but it didn’t take long for the group to make its eagerly-awaited return. Pedro Guerrero's unit exploded for a combined ten runs in the third and fifth, utilizing the gaps, capitalizing with runners in scoring position and making solid contact against Rays right-hander Taj Bradley, who ran into trouble in Miami back in May. Edwards, Jesús Sánchez, Dane Myers, Connor Norby and Nick Fortes all enjoyed multi-hit efforts. Edwards and Sánchez stood out above the rest, with the former driving in two on a single and double, while the latter provided the biggest swing of the day—a three-run missile to knot the game at four in the third. Once reliever Mason Montgomery departed, though, Miami cooled, while Tampa Bay’s power-hitters swung the momentum back to the home team. Four homers from up and down the Rays order between the fourth and seventh chipped away just enough to bring the next-to-last game of the 2025 Citrus Series to the aforementioned 10-10 tie. After Hernández pushed Miami back ahead in the top of the 10th, Edwards made the plays of the day to lock down a win against his former organization. With zero outs, Edwards laid out on a play to his left, knocking down the ball and staying with it before recording an out at first on his backside. That was just the beginning. Edwards’ encore was as game-saving as it gets, with the new second baseman getting to a 97.7 mph rope up the middle, preliminary to a stunning, pinpoint jump throw to nab ex-Marlin farmhand Kameron Misner at the plate. For Edwards, who was visibly upset even hours after his ejection the day before, Saturday’s win is just what his club needed. “Great, great to bounce back…We're all excited to win,” said Edwards with a smile. “We were just talking about, we don't even know how we would have reacted had we not won that game, so definitely glad to come on the winning side and looking forward to taking the series tomorrow.” Right in the middle of his postgame presser, McCullough publicized that Anthony Veneziano would be the opener for Sunday’s bullpen game and series finale at 12:10. Veneziano has starting experience, most recently in Triple-A Omaha a season ago, but none in MLB. Miami’s mission to secure their first season victory over their friends to the northwest will not be easy, as Drew Rasmussen is set to go opposite Veneziano. The veteran's 2.14 ERA would sit ninth-best in all of baseball if qualified. View full article

TAMPA—"We're trying to win games, trying to play good baseball, and it sucks when you're stripped of that," said a dejected Xavier Edwards postgame. For Edwards, the usually calm and collected Marlins leadoff man, Friday's series opener against his former organization in Tampa marked a first in his big league career—and for good reason. Succeeding a Dane Myers hustle double in the top of the third, the 25-year-old wasted no time laying down a textbook bunt down the third base line. The speedster was just mere feet away from first when Rays starter Zack Littell threw errantly, giving Myers a free pass to tie the game at one. There was just one problem. First base umpire Ben May deemed that Edwards interfered with first baseman Jonathan Aranda, meaning Edwards was out and Myers would have to return to second base. Instant confusion set in, considering Edwards did not step outside of the baseline in the slightest. Edwards even made sure to show May the final mark his cleat made on the chalk, but May did not budge. The play was not reviewable. The subsequent reaction from the Marlins and their second baseman went exactly as one would imagine. Manager Clayton McCullough stormed out of the dugout twice, begging for answers. On his latter trip, home plate umpire Chad Fairchild ejected the Marlins skipper for the first time. "(Fairchild) had him out of the baseline there getting down the line and I didn't see that way," said McCullough. "X was upset about it as well and things led to what ended up happening". As McCullough alluded to, Edwards wasn't too far behind, as one too many comments was enough for Fairchild to send Edwards home early for the first time as well. "I said some things that ultimately got me thrown out of the game, but I think it's a big turning point in the game," claimed Edwards. "Being able to put up a run with the top of our lineup coming up, no outs and be on first base with our 2-3-4 coming up, it's a big deal. Tie game at 1-1, and instead it swings the whole inning". Of course, with baseball being baseball, the controversial call turned out to be critical. Edward Cabrera and the bullpen held Tampa Bay's offense in check, while Agustín Ramírez's eighth homer and Otto Lopez's 424-foot blast helped Miami keep pace. It wasn't enough. For the third time in as many games, the Marlins came up short by just one run, falling 4-3. Miami's starter was only able to complete four innings due to drawn out at-bats from the Rays order and shaky offense from new first baseman Liam Hicks, but only permitted one earned run to cross. Cabrera once again showed his maturity in high-leverage scenarios, wiggling out of jams in key moments. That included retiring Brandon Lowe and Junior Caminero—two of Tampa Bay's best bats—with the bases loaded in his final inning. McCullough asserted postgame that's where he's seen his young arm grow the most throughout the season. The 27-year-old flashed his usual fastball-changeup combination 62% of the time, but recorded strikeouts on two other pitches as well. Cabrera's season ERA now sits at 3.99, nearly a full run better than last year's 4.95 mark. Of Note - McCullough informed media pregame that Kyle Stowers, who leads the team with 10 homers, is day-to-day with lingering hand soreness. Stowers was available to pinch-hit on Friday, but was not given the opportunity. - For the fourth time in his career, Jesús Sánchez wore the golden sombrero. Also taking on his ex-organization like Edwards, Sanchez went down swinging in all four at-bats. - Ex-Yankee farmhands Ramírez and Eric Wagaman both recorded three hits in their return to Steinbrenner Field. - Friday's 1:10 start is the earliest game on the slate by a stunning five and a half hours. First pitch was moved up due to a Metallica concert at Raymond James Stadium next door. Looking Ahead Saturday’s penultimate game of the 2025 Citrus Series features another set of starting pitchers enjoying recent success in Ryan Weathers and Taj Bradley. Since returning from the IL in mid-May, the former boasts an ERA of 2.49, even after a rough start by his standards a Sunday ago (4 ER in 6.0 IP). Bradley is fresh off a masterful seven-inning shutout performance against Houston. First pitch from Tampa is set for 4:10. View full article

MIAMI—It’s Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Jazz Chisholm Jr., Bryan De La Cruz and Josh Bell headlined the Marlins' lineup in a 2-0 series-clinching victory in Detroit behind a solid start from Trevor Rogers. Around baseball, Aaron Judge launched a 467-foot home run and ripped three additional doubles against Minnesota while Adley Rutschman walked off the Blue Jays with a two-run blast of his own. Oh, and out at Petco Park, Colorado picked up a surprising sweep of the Padres. Unbeknownst to the young Rockies at the time, they wouldn't experience that sensation again for a long, long time. After ending that season 40 games under .500, Colorado entered their 20th series of 2025 as the laughingstock of not just MLB, but all of sports. The other 1993 expansion team came into Miami with a near-impossible 9-50 record. For a Marlins team that just played fellow NL West division opponents in the Padres and Giants fairly competitively, the weekday three-gamer was the most “get right” series they would see all season. Perhaps the Fish would even record their first sweep of their 2025 campaign, just as they did a season ago against these same Rockies. Instead, following Wednesday’s 3-2 matinee, it was Colorado who broke out the brooms for the first time since that mid-May evening in 2024, now 385 days ago. Continuing a theme that began following the second inning on Monday, the Marlins were unable to sustain any offensive success. Rockies starter Kyle Freeland, who has been one of MLB’s unluckiest arms thus far—a 3.67 FIP compared to a 5.72 ERA—carved up Miami’s bats all afternoon long. The southpaw was superb through six innings, holding the Marlins to two hits on a minuscule 78 pitches. It wasn’t until the seventh when he ran into trouble, and even then, it was due to Orlando Arcia’s error at short that kickstarted Miami’s rally. Following Arcia’s mishap, back-to-back hits from Eric Wagaman and Heriberto Hernández put Miami right back in it. The rally even looked like it would end with a tie game, but a perfect relay from the Rockies defense and subsequent tag on Jesús Sánchez from, you guessed it, Jacob Stallings, spoiled Liam Hicks’ double. The slight spark of offense ended up being the closest Miami got all day, as they went down in order in both the eighth and ninth. On the contrary, things would’ve looked considerably more bleak if not for Freeland's teammate a year ago, Marlins starter Cal Quantrill. Quantrill endured a rough opening frame, allowing extra-base hits to both Thairo Estrada and Hunter Goodman—who accumulated five RBI in the series—but settled down and persevered through five innings. The veteran right-hander continued his recent run of allowing two earned runs or less in each of his past four starts (the second run crossed in the fifth). A well-mixed arsenal was the solution for Quantrill, as the 30-year-old threw five different pitches on at least ten occasions, plus seven cutters. Quantrill found most success with his patented splitter, as the breaking pitch recorded four of his nine whiffs and was responsible for one of just two strikeouts. “I think I threw alright. First couple innings were a grind, I settled in after that," Quantrill told reporters postgame. "(Nick) Fortes and I got on a little better rhythm as we went. I've thrown the ball well the last five, six, seven times out...I think I didn't have my best stuff today. I thought we grinded well—something you can rest your head on a little bit easier tonight”. After a bumpy start to his Marlins career, Quantrill owns a 3.25 ERA since the start of May. For a rotation that's reintroducing Eury Pérez in the next week, Miami's free agent signing getting back on track will prove key moving forward. As we’ve come to expect, Janson Junk came on in bulk relief for the final four innings. Junk was solid yet again, striking out six while allowing just a lone run to cross. “I'm still learning. I'm still trying to figure out that routine and stuff. But it's an everyday process. So, even though I'm long relief and I'm going out there, preparing like I'm part of the whole plan. Even though I probably won't throw the day after, I'm going out there just to mentally lock in,” Junk told Fish On First about his new role last week. With the sweep in the books, Miami falls to 14 games under .500. Manager Clayton McCullough said it’s a "frustrating" loss, but that the team will need to rebound before things snowball. “The whole week here it’s just frustrating that we did a lot of things well, but certainly not enough to come up on the winning end. We'll just regroup from this and just go. We have to go on, right? This league is unrelenting, and we’ll get back at it after the off day tomorrow in Tampa, and get back to winning some ball games.” The main thing that the Marlins did not do well on the just-completed homestand was hit for power. No Miami player homered over the course of those six games. It was their first homerless homestand of multiple series since July 11-21, 2022. Neither team has officially announced a starter for Friday’s series opener, although it is expected that McCullough will roll with Edward Cabrera, coming off debatably the best month of his career. Cabrera boasted a flat 2.00 ERA in May, by virtue of refined command and feel for his pitch mix. Following his previous start—a scoreless 5 ⅓ inning effort a Saturday ago—the 27-year-old noted that his past stretch has been the most comfortable he’s felt at the highest level. First pitch from the Rays' temporary home at George M. Steinbrenner Field is set for an unconventional 1:10. View full article

MIAMI—Not even 24 hours following a Cal Quantrill/Kyle Harrison pitching duel on Friday night, the Marlins and the Giants starting arms went for round two on Saturday afternoon. This time around, 2021 Cy Young winner Robbie Ray—who had been 7-0 this season—went mano a mano against Edward Cabrera, riding an excellent month of May and coming off a ten-strikeout performance a Sunday ago in Anaheim. The sequel featured even less scoring than the original, culminating 1-0 in Miami’s favor, with Javier Sanoja’s two-out RBI single in the second inning being the difference. After falling into a bases-loaded jam in the first, Cabrera punched out Willy Adames and Mike Yastrzemski. That gave him momentum to nearly author his first quality start of his season. “After I got through (the first inning), what I was thinking is, 'once I get back, I have to attack. It doesn't matter if they hit me, I just got to go out there and attack and get as many as I can,'" Cabrera told reporters postgame through translator Luis Dorante Jr. Cabrera’s plan paid off, as the next 4 ⅓ innings were smooth sailing for the 27-year-old. Giants hitters mustered just three hits before a walk and a single forced Clayton McCullough to go to his bullpen, where Ronny Henriquez sat down Tyler Fitzgerald to end the frame. The fifth-year arm generated plenty of swing-and-miss, as 25% of his offerings were whiffed on. Cabrera’s most-used pitch, the power changeup, was responsible for 8 of the 11 whiffs. Most importantly for Cabrera—as seen throughout the entire month—the command once again was steady. He threw 18 first-pitch strikes to 24 batters faced. He issued three walks, though two of them were in two-out, bases-empty situations. With another solid outing in the books, Cabrera finishes May with a stunning 2.00 ERA with a 8/28 BB/K ratio. Suddenly, the full-season ERA sits at 4.17, an eye-popping improvement from his 7.23 April. “He's just executing all his pitches. He's throwing everything for a strike. Everything looks really sharp. He's throwing hard,’” said his catcher Nick Fortes. “His misses are competitive misses—there's no spray. He's just right around where he wants it to be so it makes it tough for them to make a decision.” When asked if his recent stretch has been the most comfortable he’s felt in MLB, Cabrera answered, “Yes. I feel good. I feel healthy, which is the most important part—feeling great”. Henriquez, Anthony Bender and Calvin Faucher followed suit out of the bullpen, forfeiting a combined two hits in the final 3 ⅓ innings. “The pitching across the board was great. Cabby was terrific. His ability that first inning to navigate through and get through that unscathed was big for us. Ronnie coming in and getting a big punchout to end a threat, throwing up another zero. Bender as well, and then Faucher at the end. Those guys threw the ball great.” Not to go unnoticed, Cabrera and Henriquez got serious assistance from outfielders Heriberto Hernández and Dane Myers, both of whom delivered incredible catches in the 4th and 6th, respectively. Hernández took away what would’ve likely been a homer from Fitzgerald, tracking the deep fly ball all the way to the warning track before taking flight. “I respect the pitchers when they’re grinding. I think that was the least I could do. You know, just run hard and try to do the best I could,” noted Hernández, playing in his second game in The Show. wwhg80_1.mp4 Myers, on the other hand, sacrificed his body for a spectacular leaping catch to rob Jung Hoo Lee of extra bases, and more importantly, keep Miami in the lead. Revisiting Ray, the 33-year-old thoroughly dominated outside of Sanoja’s knock, holding Miami to one additional hit in his seven-inning outing. Ray struck out nine, four apiece coming on his changeup and fastball. Ryan Weathers is set to go for the Marlins on Sunday’s rubber match. He has allowed a minuscule two earned runs in his first three starts. Second-year righty Hayden Birdsong gets the nod for San Francisco. Birdsong started his sophomore campaign in the bullpen, but broke into the rotation following Jordan Hicks’ disastrous performance earlier this season. In two starts, Birdsong has been solid, punching out ten in 9 ⅓ innings of work. First pitch from "Spongebob Day" at loanDepot park is set for 1:40. View full article

The Fightin' Fish are alive and well in San Diego. A sweep looked inevitable. Sandy Alcantara walked off the mound at Petco Park following a cruel fourth inning, having buried the Marlins in a five-run hole with five innings to get themselves out. It turns out, all they needed was one. A furious top of the fifth inning saw the Marlins' offense get back all five runs, including three on Otto Lopez's fourth long ball of the season. Two innings later, Gavin Sheets made sure to watch his go-ahead home run in the seventh, but Miami retaliated with three more of their own in just a half-inning's time. Ronny Henriquez and Calvin Faucher—the San Diego native and UC Irvine alum—recorded six consecutive outs to steal Wednesday's rollercoaster matinee and fly back to Miami with a .500 record on their two-city road trip. It was a sensational day for Miami's bats, especially considering their inability to sustain offense in games one and two after strong first frames. Both Lopez and Eric Wagaman were fundamental in Miami's comeback, spraying three hits apiece and combining for four RBI. Jesús Sánchez started the aforementioned rally with a solo homer of his own. Even eight-hole Javier Sanoja came through multiple times with two doubles on the afternoon as well. Nobody, though, was more impactful than Agustín Ramírez. The rookie sensation enjoyed his first four-hit day as a big leaguer and showed up clutch when his team needed him the most. Ramírez started his day in the third by sending out his seventh homer, tying Dylan Crews and Jacob Wilson among MLB rookies, a fact even more impressive considering Ramirez has played 14 and 22 fewer games than those two. As his team was chipping away two innings later, Ramírez dropped a two-out single to plate Sanoja. After recording another base hit in the seventh, the 23-year-old stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs and his team down by one in the eighth. The moment was nowhere near too big. In near-identical fashion to his second knock, Ramírez laced a Wandy Peralta sinker to center for two additional RBI and a Marlins lead with six outs remaining. With his biggest day as a major leaguer in the books, the potential future face of franchise is now slashing .262/.318/.525. To say Ramírez has been fantastic in just over a month at the highest level would be a severe understatement. Perhaps the only negative to come out of the exhilarating win was the current face of the franchise, Alcantara. In what has become a despairing theme, Sandy continued to simply miss his spots—notably with his four-seam—leading to hard contact and walks. Things looked fine through three, with just one earned run in the second, before the blowup that was the fourth. In a new and concerning twist, Alcantara was unable to create swing-and-miss. Even with an all-world arsenal like his, Alcantara failed to strike out any Padre in his four innings of work. It's only the second time in his career as a starter that he has failed to do so, the other instance having occurred in April of 2019. Sandy only generated one whiff in 71 pitches thrown. Thanks to the extraordinary run support that he received, Alcantara snapped a personal losing streak that had spanned his previous seven starts. There were 18 combined runs scored, the third-highest total for any Marlins game this season. Instead of making the hour and a half flight north to the Bay Area, the Marlins will host the Giants this weekend back home at loanDepot park. Kyle Harrison is set to make his sixth start of the season for San Francisco on Friday's series opener at 7:10. Miami has yet to announce a starter, however it will likely be Cal Quantrill—following his abbreviated 46 pitch-outing in Anaheim—taking the ball for Clayton McCullough's club. View full article

Chicago's late-inning surge led to a Cubs series win at loanDepot park on Wednesday afternoon behind a solid Max Meyer. MIAMI- With two outs in the eighth inning of Wednesday's rubber match between the visiting Chicago Cubs and Marlins, Kyle Tucker stepped up with Matt Shaw standing 180 feet away from home in a 1-1 offensive stalemate. Up to that point in the ballgame, the three-time All-Star and first-year Cub was responsible for essentially all of Chicago's offense. Tucker deposited his second first-inning homer in as many days and added another hit two innings later with a 107.2 mph single. Instead of putting Tucker on with first base open, Marlins manager Clayton McCullough put trust in one of his best relief arms, Anthony Bender. When asked postgame if he was considering pitching around Tucker, McCullough answered, "Anthony has the weapons to get him out. I was confident with Anthony going into that at-bat with his stuff." McCullough had good reason to believe in his guy, as Bender had been as good as any Marlins arm in crucial situations this season. In 32 at-bats in "high leverage" innings entering Wednesday’s game, opposing hitters slashed a measly .188/.278/.281. The five-year veteran even got Tucker in a favorable 1-2 count, but on pitch four, disaster struck for the Fish. Tucker poked a backdoor sweeper to left field, moving Shaw to third, where it looked like he'd be staying... if not for Kyle Stowers misplaying the ball in left. R0I2azlfWGw0TUFRPT1fQUFBQVVsY0ZWRllBRGxCUVhnQUhBMVZYQUFBQVVBTUFCQWNDQlZGVFV3WUdCbE5Y (1).mp4 Shaw ended up scoring with ease as the ball trickled away from McCullough’s most valuable player, putting Chicago up 2-1, where the score would stay until the final out as Miami's bats continued to flounder. "Got maybe a little too quick with it, with the transfer...the timing of some things weren't advantageous," added McCullough. "But Kyle has made so many good plays out there and over the course of the season for us". Offensively, following Stowers' single in the third -- which extended his hit streak to nine games -- Miami did not record a hit in the final six frames after tallying six just over one time through the order, as Cubs starter Cade Horton and a trio of relievers dominated. The Marlins' only run came in the first, with Connor Norby legging out a sharply-hit infield single to plate Agustin Ramirez. Lost in the fray was the man opposite of Gibson, Max Meyer. For the first time since his incredible 14-strikeout performance against Cincinnati exactly a month ago, Meyer delivered a quality start. The 26-year-old’s outing started on the shakier side, with Tucker's aforementioned long ball. Showcasing his level-headedness, though, Meyer sat down three of the next four Cubs he faced, putting him back on track to deliver a much-needed impact start. "I was just trying to get some outs. I didn't want anything to get out of control, and I had to just continue to execute pitches and stay on the game plan, and just because he hit one out, I wasn't going to waver from trying to finish my pitches." After cruising for the better part of five innings, Meyer went out for his sixth inning of work. Seiya Suzuki led off the inning with a tough-luck dribbler down the third base line, a theme that Meyer had dealt in the later innings of his starts. Today, though, the baseball Gods were on his side. One batter later, as "PCA" chants rang throughout loanDepot park from a vocal Cubs crowd, MVP candidate Pete Crow-Armstrong roped a 93.5 mph Meyer changeup directly at Eric Wagaman at first base, leading to the unassisted double play. R0I2azlfWGw0TUFRPT1fQXdJQVZWQUNVVlFBRGdZQlZBQUhCQTlRQUZrRUFRVUFBMUFOQWdJQ1ZRTURCbGNI.mp4 Meyer concluded his outing one batter later via a Michael Busch groundout. Postgame, Meyer joked with the media that, "It's a breath of fresh air since usually it happens with a chopper, as you've seen it happen with our starters. It felt like once I had that dribbler in my mind, I stopped thinking about that and told myself I would get this guy out and, alas, it was a double play right to him. It was really refreshing, it kind of made me say, 'baseball is actually fun'". Meyer's effectiveness on Wednesday lays in his arsenal, as the third-year starter utilized all five of his pitches at least 12 times. "He was able to stick some fastballs in there [at] various times. And maybe they're looking for the slider, which we all know is a really great pitch for him, and also the use of his changeup today. So Max, outside of the Tucker home run in the first inning, did a great job. Six really strong innings and he looked in control. He was pounding the strike zone, making a lot of high-quality pitches, and I loved how he was able to utilize his entire mix today". Meyer's season ERA following his latest performance is down to 4.15 through ten outings. The once third overall pick has easily been Miami's most impressive starter nearly two months in to the season. Following Wednesday's loss, the Marlins will embark on a cross-country trek to Anaheim to kick off their second west coast road trip of 2025. While Los Angeles has yet to announce a starter for Friday’s series-opener, Miami is set to deploy ace Sandy Alcantara, coming off another frustrating outing. Alcantara was showing signs of his Cy Young self before a four-run fifth inning ended his afternoon on Saturday. First pitch from Angel Stadium is slated for 9:38 pm ET. View full article

Alcantara posted another unattractive final line on Saturday despite excelling for much of the afternoon. MIAMI—Sandy Alcantara was dealing. After shaking off a leadoff double and a walk from the first two Rays he faced, Alcantara retired twelve in a row heading into his fifth inning of work in game two of the Citrus Series. The former Cy Young winner was sitting high 90's—including one pitch at 100 for the first time this season—rolling ground balls at a "Vintage Sandy" clip and spotting his pitches as well as he's done all season. It appeared that after eight starts of knocking off the rust and uncharacteristic results, this was the light at the end of the tunnel. For the first time in nearly two years, the Marlins ace was going to deliver a gem. In the blink of an eye, that light went out. Three singles, a walk, a hit by pitch and an egregious three stolen bases later, Alcantara's potential return to dominance vanished. The Rays pushed across four runs in the frame when it was all said and done. Those were the only four runs in the game's entirety as Miami's offense struggled to muster anything all day long. With the 4-0 loss, the Fish drop back to 10 games under .500. In Alcantara's defense, all four singles could have been outs as easily as they were hits. José Caballero's single to start the inning was hit a scorching 62.3 mph down the third base line, Chandler Simpson's rip was just past a diving Ronny Simon, Yandy Díaz's was through a drawn-in infield and Jonathan Aranda's was an awkward broken-bat dribbler. All of that in the equation arguably makes it tougher for Alcantara to swallow. "Just no luck for me out there today," Alcantara said to reporters postgame. "Fifth inning, you just hit the ball right there on the edge, maybe the hole, I don't know, but it is what it is. You just gotta take it". "He looked sharp using the fastball to (the) top of the zone as well. And using the secondaries, he was in a really good rhythm there through the early part of the game." said Marlins manager Clayton McCullough. "And then, they just kind of strung a few together, their ground balls that got through some holes to kind of keep the line moving a little bit...They're gonna start getting hit at people, which would make the overall outing look different. But I think as far as how he threw the ball, and how the quality of the stuff how he's utilizing it, it's going to bode well as we keep moving forward. The unlucky inning wouldn't have held as much weight if Rays starter Drew Rasmussen didn't shut Miami's offense down for the better part of six innings. The Marlins were only able to put together four hits against him—two from the second inning onward—with no real opportunity for a rally. Rasmussen finished his day with five strikeouts on an efficient 81 pitches. A trio of Rays relievers allowed just two hits combined in the final three innings. As has been the case at various points of Alcantara's career, the Marlins have been providing him with inadequate support. The club has lost six consecutive Alcantara starts, averaging only two runs in those games. Kyle Stowers and Liam Hicks—who batted second for the first time in his young MLB career—were the only Marlins who recorded multiple hits, both recording a single and a double. "He's feeling confident, trusting in his bat-to-ball, his eye, to be able to go up there and then take some shots and some counts to try to impact," noted McCullough on his rookie catcher. Despite facing off annually, the Marlins have not swept the Rays in a series of any length since 2016 (a two-gamer played at Tropicana Field). That drought continues. Looking ahead to Sunday afternoon's 1:40 series finale, McCullough turns to Cal Quantrill, backpacking off another up-and-down start on the north side of Chicago. Eight starts into his 2025 campaign, Quantrill owns an ERA of 7.00 with opponents OPS’ing just north of .900. Standing in the way of Miami’s first series win in almost a month is Shane Baz, who made just one start against his in-state rival back in 2021. The former first-round pick has stumbled as of late, allowing three or more earned runs in each of his past three starts. Baz relies heavily on his four-seam and knuckle curve, with the latter seeing significantly more usage—20.5% in 2024 compared to 33.2% in 2025—than it did a season ago. View full article

Baseball's least-clutch hitter finally delivered. Entering the eighth inning of the middle game between the equally struggling White Sox and Marlins, Miami's offense displayed essentially zero situational hitting ability all series long. A dreadful 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position carried on an ugly theme from the night before—the Marlins were 1-for-15 with RISP in game one—and it appeared another irksome loss was on the horizon. Kyle Stowers finally got his team on the board with a game-tying solo shot the inning prior, but if Miami was going to take the lead, the middle of their order was going to need to come through. The opportunity presented itself to none other than the least clutch hitter in all of baseball. Eric Wagaman entered Saturday with a -1.95 win probability added, the lowest amongst hitters in MLB. He had frequently faltered in late-game scenarios exactly like this, with runners on first and second, two outs and his team desperately needing a hit. This time, Wagaman succeeded. Miami's left fielder roped an outside changeup past a fully extended Michael A. Taylor in center field all the way to the wall, plating Dane Myers and Nick Fortes before sliding into third for his first career triple. Six quick outs from Anthony Bender and Jesús Tinoco put a bow on a hard-fought, come-from-behind 3-1 victory for Clayton McCullough's ball club. Wagaman's triple was only the ninth of his eight-year professional career. With the knock, the 27-year-old now holds ten RBI's on the season. Miami was kept in the contest that late thanks to another solid effort from starter Edward Cabrera. For a second consecutive start, Cabrera worked five strong innings. He only allowed one earned run this time around, a long ball off the bat of Andrew Vaughn—his second in as many days. Cabrera also continued a theme of trimming down his walk totals, only allowing one free pass, mirroring his last appearance. What Cabrera did do differently from his previous start was eliminate his four-seam fastball. Last Sunday against the Athletics, Cabrera threw his heater 12 times. On Saturday, it was not thrown once. No fastball meant heavy reliance on his changeup and sinker, with the two pitches amounting to 71% of the pitches the righty threw. Cabrera's season ERA now sits at 5.52, a number significantly lower than the 7.23 he owned just three starts ago. Miami's #5 starter will have another major opportunity to continue his recent success, as he is lined up for another below-average offense in his next start in the form of a struggling Rays unit, which ranks 23rd league-wide in team OPS (.670). Of Note - Javier Sanoja put on one of the best performances of his young career with a team-leading two-hit night and an exceptional run-saving play at second base in the bottom half of the seventh. - Before scoring on Wagaman's triple, Dane Myers stole second and got up awkwardly. Initially it looked like Myers simply got the wind knocked out of him, but Matt Mervis took his spot in the order in the ninth. It is something to monitor for Miami's center fielder who is enjoying a special start to his 2025 campaign. Up Next Sunday's Mothers Day rubber match is set to feature Sandy Alcantara making his eighth start post-Tommy John surgery. In Alcantara's last outing against the Dodgers, he flashed his vintage stuff, mixed in with occasional bad location which Los Angeles made him pay for. Sean Burke takes the ball for Will Venable's club with a 4.35 ERA through seven starts and eight appearances. First pitch from the Southside is slated for 2:10. View full article

The Marlins' most reliable starter eventually ran out of gas, while Miami's offense mustered only two runs despite frequent scoring opportunities. In back-to-back games leading up to Friday night's first of three against the lowly White Sox, Marlins manager Clayton McCullough was scrutinized for taking out his starting pitcher too early. On Tuesday, McCullough pulled Cal Quantrill in the middle of his best start of the season. A day later, Valente Bellozo was taken out amidst a one-hitter. The concern? Both Quantrill and Bellozo had historically seen the offensive numbers against them spike when facing a lineup for the third time. With Dodgers' superstar Shohei Ohtani coming to the plate, his former coach would rather a lefty arm out of his bullpen. Both times, the three-time MVP made him pay with extra-base hits. Major rallies for Los Angeles ensued, setting McCullough up for criticism from media and fans alike. Fast forward to Friday, where Max Meyer became the first Marlins starter to complete six innings since Sandy Alcantara on April 23, doing so on just 72 pitches. This time, McCullough rolled with Meyer into the seventh inning with the game tied and a weak Chicago lineup coming up for, you guessed it, a third time. What followed was the exact situation the first-year manager dreaded. The Southsiders rattled off three runs charged on three hits, two walks and a sacrifice fly. Meyer was chased from the contest before he could even record a second out. With the big inning, Chicago grabbed a 5-2 lead before adding another in the eighth. Miami's offense continued to sputter after an impressive first two innings, leading to their ninth defeat in their past eleven games. As a result of the loss, the Marlins dropped to a season-worst nine games under .500. Looking away from his tumultuous final inning, Meyer delivered a solid bounce-back start, allowing just two runs all night—both in an up-and-down second frame—displaying better swing-and-miss stuff than his prior start. The 26-year-old was also extremely efficient, averaging 12 pitches an inning between the first and sixth. Meyer relied on his signature slider more than any other pitch, throwing it 33% of the time, as expected. Surprisingly, though, Meyer threw his new sweeper and changeup second-most and third-most, respectively. He mixed in only 14 fastballs. Whether that usage decision was due to it missing down the plate in the aforementioned second inning is unknown. With his eighth start of 2025 in the books, Meyer's ERA now sits at 4.37, still good enough for the lowest in Miami's rotation among pitchers who have made five starts or more. As previously noted, Miami's bats came out of the gates hot. Xavier Edwards walked and stole a base before Jesús Sánchez drove him in on a single to open things up. An inning later, Connor Norby roped a double to left-center. What followed was radio silence for the next four innings until Liam Hicks pulled his second homer in as many starts to knot the game at two. The Fish got runners on in both the eighth and ninth, but couldn't chain anything together. Overall in this contest, they went 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position. Of Note - Home plate umpire Austin Jones had a rough night, missing plenty of calls on both sides. Agustín Ramírez got visibly worked up in the seventh inning, leading to McCullough having to diffuse the situation between the two. Additionally, Max Meyer was seen saying choice words to Jones as he walked off the mound following his departure. - While three of them didn't fall, Ramírez belted four balls over 100 mph in play, including a new personal-best 115 mph double in his third at-bat. - Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reported pregame that Eury Pérez will make his fourth rehab start in Jupiter on Sunday afternoon. - It has, simply put, been a tough time for Marlins starters thus far. Up Next Edward Cabrera, off the back of an encouraging 5 ⅔ innings last Sunday against the Athletics, takes the ball in Saturday's middle game at 7:10. Opposite of Cabrera is Shane Smith, far and away Chicago's best arm in the young season. Through seven starts, Smith has maintained a 2.41 ERA with opponents hitting a measly .207. Most impressive of all, Smith has allowed just a single home run in 37 ⅓ innings pitched. View full article

Miami Marlins outfielder Jesús Sánchez speaks with the media at loanDepot park after delivering the game-winning hit in Tuesday's 10-inning victory. The Marlins are tied for the MLB lead with five walk-off wins this season. View full video