Late Marlins offense backs another strong Braxton Garrett outing in win over Nationals
Performances like Saturday are becoming commonplace for Braxton Garrett nowadays.
For the sixth time in his past seven outings, the 25-year-old left-handed pitcher held an opponent to no more than two earned runs while pitching at least five innings. In Saturday’s instance, it was six innings of one-run ball in the Miami Marlins’ series-clinching 5-2 win over the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park.
It was a win that improved the Marlins to 40-31 on the season, putting them nine games over .500 for the first time since July 31, 2016.
And it was a performance by Garrett the Marlins needed given the state of their rotation. About an hour before first pitch, the team announced that right-handed pitcher Edward Cabrera was going on the injured list with a shoulder impingement. Cabrera is the third member of Miami’s Opening Day rotation on the IL, joining left-handed pitcher Trevor Rogers (initially a left biceps injury but now also dealing with a right lat strain) and right-handed pitcher Johnny Cueto (first with a right biceps injury but then sustaining an ankle injury in his first rehab outing).
With Miami’s starting pitching depth being tested amid one of the best starts in franchise history, Garrett’s ability to string together strong outing after strong outing becomes that much more vital.
“You’re going to need eight or nine starters every season,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “Very rarely do you get five starters the whole year. For him to step up... it feels like he’s taking the next step and I just feel like every start he’s taking that next step.”
Saturday was the latest. He held the Nationals (27-43) to just one run on four hits and a walk while striking out eight over six innings. He threw a season-high 90 pitches, 55 of which landed for strikes. The lone run he gave up came in the fourth, when Joey Meneses hit a one-out RBI single one at-bat after Jeimer Candelario hit a double that tied the game at 1-1. He effectively mixed in all of his pitches, throwing 27 cutters, 20 sliders, 19 sinkers, 11 curveballs, 10 changeups and three four-seam fastballs.
Over his past seven starts, Garrett has posted a 2.13 ERA, giving up just nine earned runs over 38 innings while striking out 49 and walking just eight. He has held opponents to two earned runs or fewer in six of those seven outings.
“I see it,” Garrett said of his improvement. “I know I’ve pitched pretty well, but I’ve said it a million times, I just try not to get too high or get too low. I just know how hard this game is and it can come back and punch me in the face. But it’s just been a buildup of getting better and learning to pitch and just everything.”
Miami is 6-1 over Garrett’s past seven starts.
Pretty good considering what the team envisioned Garrett’s role being when the season started. He made the Opening Day roster as the Marlins’ long reliever, then was optioned to Triple A Jacksonville four games into the season only to be brought back up one day later after Cueto landed on the IL. Garrett has been part of the rotation ever since and after a couple bumps in the road — most notably an 11-run shelling by the Atlanta Braves on May 3 — he has finally found his groove.
“We put him through a lot that first couple of weeks,” Schumaker said. “After that one start against Atlanta, he has been as good as anybody in our rotation.”
And the offense, despite some missed opportunities that could have broken the game open sooner, gave Garrett the run support he needed.
The Marlins opened scoring in the second on a Jonathan Davis sacrifice fly that scored Jesus Sanchez, who led off the inning with a double and got to third on a Joey Wendle double.
In the seventh, Miami took the lead for good. The Marlins had the bases loaded with one out after a Davis walk, Nick Fortes single and Luis Arraez intentional walk. Nationals reliever Chad Kuhl then walked Jorge Soler on four pitches to force in Davis and threw a wild pitch during Bryan De La Cruz’s ensuing at-bat that allowed Fortes to score and push the Marlins’ lead to 3-1.
De La Cruz gave the Marlins some insurance runs with a two-run single in the ninth with the bases loaded. De La Cruz was 0 for his last 21 dating back to the start of the Mariners series on Monday before that hit.
Steven Okert and Dylan Floro worked around a pair of hits for a scoreless seventh. Tanner Scott held Washington to just one run in the eighth after giving up back-to-back hits to lead off the inning. And A.J. Puk secured the win with a scoreless ninth inning for his team-leading ninth save of the season.
This story was originally published June 17, 2023 at 6:42 PM.
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