J.T. Realmuto’s return ignites Marlins lineup, backs up another gem from Jarlin Garcia

So all the Marlins needed was J.T. Realmuto?

While it remains to be seen how much of a long-term effect he can have on the struggling Marlins’ lineup, Realmuto gave Miami the offensive jolt it desperately needed Tuesday night during a 9-1 win over the host New York Yankees.

In his third at-bat in the fifth inning, Realmuto belted a three-run home run off Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka that broke the game open.

Realmuto said before the game he hoped he could provide a spark to a Marlins' offense that entered the game ranked last in the National League in home runs and extra bases hits and worst in the majors in slugging percentage.

"That's what I'm trying to do, but hopefully sparks last a lot longer than one game," Realmuto said. "We gotta to celebrate this one and put it behind us and go to work."

Realmuto went 2 for 4 with four RBI in his season debut after being sidelined with a back bruise since March 11.

"I think he's been practicing on his hitting," joked Miguel Rojas. "It's great to have him back and putting together good at-bats especially in this cold weather."

Tomas Telis, Starlin Castro and Derek Dietrich each had two hits as the Marlins struck quickly with three in the first and one in the second capitalizing on a pair of Yankees errors. Rojas also extended his hitting streak to 10 games, matching a career-high.

The scoring output was the Marlins’ highest so far this season, and snapped their three-game losing skid.

Jarlin Garcia picked up his first career win and matched some historic marks for consecutive no-hit innings in a pitcher’s first career starts.

Garcia, who threw six no-hit innings in his previous start last Wednesday against the Mets, carried another no-hitter into the fifth on Tuesday before Miguel Andujar doubled to end a streak of 10 consecutive no-hit innings. Andujar later broke the Marlins' shutout bid with a solo homer in the ninth off Brad Ziegler.

Per Elias Sports, Garcia’s streak matched the modern MLB record set by Bobo Holloman in 1953 for the St. Louis Browns by a starting pitcher to begin a career. It also matched the second-longest such streak in in franchise history second only to Armando Benitez’s streak of 11 in a row in 2004.

Garcia, who was pulled from his previous outing after 77 pitches, walked five batters forcing his exit after 92 pitches. Garcia worked around the double in the fifth by striking out Brett Gardner and getting Aaron Judge to line out to center on a full count.

This story was originally published April 17, 2018 at 10:28 PM with the headline "J.T. Realmuto’s return ignites Marlins lineup, backs up another gem from Jarlin Garcia."