Braxton Garrett picks up where he left on in Miami Marlins return to beat Nationals
.JPG "Miami Marlins starting pitcher Braxton Garrett aims a pitch during the second inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Friday, Sept. 23, 2022, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)")
Braxton Garrett’s start on Friday began on a tough note. He watched as Lane Thomas sent his second pitch of the night, a 91.6 mph four-seam fastball, down the left-field line for a leadoff home run to put the Miami Marlins in an early hole against the Washington Nationals.
A year ago, Garrett wasn’t sure how he would have responded to that.
On Friday, he followed up the home run with three consecutive strikeouts. He was on his way to his latest solid outing of the season in his return from a brief stint in the minors, holding the Nationals to just that one run over six innings in a 5-2 Marlins win at loanDepot park to begin a three-game series. Miami improves to 62-89 on the season. Washington falls to 52-98.
“The job is, I want to go [at least] six every night,” Garrett said, “but the job on the field is just the at-bat at hand. I’ve done a good job of that.”
But for a brief stint, Garrett had to do that job in the minor leagues despite the fact that the 25-year-old lefty has been crafting a breakout season in the big leagues. He stuck around for 13 starts as the Marlins’ rotation dealt with injuries before being sidelined himself for about a month with an oblique strain. He returned for his 14th start during the Marlins’ doubleheader against the Texas Rangers on Sept. 12. At that point, the Marlins’ rotation had returned to full strength, and Miami found itself with six starting pitchers for five spots. Garrett became the odd man out.
Marlins manager Don Mattingly made it clear that the Marlins sending Garrett to the minor leagues on Sept. 13 had nothing to do with his performance.
But it was still a tough
“Of course I didn’t want to get optioned there,” Garrett said. “I thought I’ve done well, but it’s just the business of the game. We have a lot of really good pitchers. It was just I had to go down so it is what it is. I don’t think anybody in my position would have been happy with it, but I just try and take everything in stride and then continue to just do my job as best I can.”
His time back in the minor leagues lasted one start.
With Trevor Rogers sidelined the final two weeks of the season with a Grade 1 left lat strain, Garrett found himself back with the Marlins on Friday.
And he gave a performance reminiscent of some of his best this season.
After allowing the leadoff home run, Garrett only allowed two runners to get into scoring position the rest of the night, struck out six overall and didn’t issue a walk. He capped his night by retiring the final seven batters he faced. Of his 80 pitches, 62 landed for strikes.
After posting a 5.18 ERA over his first 10 MLB appearances (24 earned runs in 41 2/3 innings), Garrett has pitched to a 3.52 ERA in 15 starts this season (31 earned runs in 79 1/3 innings). Friday was Garrett’s fifth start in 2022 in which he pitched at least six innings and the second time this season he did not issue a walk.
“He kept his composure and just went back to work,” Mattingly said. “It shows growth from his standpoint of not getting panicked about it and just keep making pitches.”
The Marlins tied the game with a Garrett Cooper double in the first that scored Jon Berti, who led off with a double. They took the lead for good with a three-run sixth inning on a Bryan De La Cruz bases-loaded hit-by-pitch, Charles Leblanc RBI single and Miguel Rojas double play that also brought in a run. JJ Bleday capped scoring with a sacrifice fly in the seventh.
This and that
▪ Berti’s stolen base in the third inning was his MLB-leading 37th of the season.
▪ Richard Bleier (one inning, one run allowed), Huascar Brazoban (one inning) and Dylan Floro (one inning) pitched the final three innings for the Marlins. Floro recorded his sixth save of the season.
▪ Leblanc recorded his 12th multi-hit outing in 40 games for the Marlins since making his MLB debut.
▪ The Marlins placed infielder Joey Wendle on the 10-day injured list with left hamstring tendinitis. Wendle and Mattingly both said the move is precautionary, with the anticipation that Wendle will be activated for the final week of the season. With the IL move retroactive to Monday, the earliest Wendle can be activated is Thursday, when Miami begins a four-game road series with the Milwaukee Brewers.
Up next
Sandy Alcantara (13-8, 2.37 ERA) will face the Nationals for the fifth time this season. The Marlins’ ace has a 0.84 ERA through his first four starts against the Nationals this season, including a complete game his last time against them on Sunday.
Erick Fedde (6-10, 5.29 ERA) will be on the mound for Washington.
This story was originally published September 23, 2022 at 9:23 PM.
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