Fielding errors sink Marlins in rookie Gillispie’s first major league start

Following one of the most memorable Opening Days in franchise history, reality sank in on Friday night as four fielding errors and an unproductive offense led to the Marlins’ first loss under manager Clayton McCullough - a 4-3 defeat against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Right-hander Connor Gillispie made his first major league start.

He looked solid through the first three innings on Friday night, but was a victim of sloppy play behind him as the game progressed.

After Oneil Cruz drew a leadoff walk in the fourth, he stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by Rule-5 pick Liam Hicks, who was making his Major League debut behind the plate. Cruz then scored easily on an RBI double from Andrew McCutchen.

A few batters later, with the bases loaded and one out, Adam Frazier lifted a fly ball to shallow right field. Outfielder Griffin Conine made a strong throw to the plate, but first baseman Matt Mervis inexplicably cut it off. The sacrifice fly allowed the run to score, making it 2-0.

“I heard ‘cut’ from someone behind me and my reaction took over,” Mervis said postgame. “The throw was perfectly on-line and would have been an easy hop for the catcher to handle, so my mistake there.”

“It’s one of those where we watch the film, ask the guys their take on that and kind of go from there,” McCullough said.

In the following inning, Tommy Pham reached base on an error by third baseman Graham Pauley. Two batters later, Pham scored on a home run by Cruz, extending the lead to 4-0.

Gillispie’s final line: 5 innings pitched, allowing four hits and four runs (three earned) and four walks while striking out four.

When asked to evaluate his outing, the right-hander said, “It was alright, I just have to limit the walks. They kind of bit me in the butt but other than, it was fine.” In 16 ⅓ innings this spring, Gillispie allowed five free passes.

“He threw the ball great. Got us through five innings and kept us in the ball game which was all we could ask,” McCullough said.

Acquired off waivers from the Atlanta Braves on January 29th, the 27-year-old Gillispie impressed during spring training with a 3.86 ERA across three starts. Given a spot in the Marlins’ rotation due to multiple injuries, he entered the season as the No. 2 starter.

“Throughout camp, our pitching staff was able to enhance and deepen his repertoire, which gave him a lot of confidence in his breaking pitches,” McCullough said before Friday’s loss.

Gillispie made his Major League debut in 2024 with three relief appearances and allowed two earned runs in eight innings.

Offensively, Miami didn’t have an answer for Pittsburgh’s starter Mitch Keller, who was dominant through six frames tonight. The lone run the right-hander allowed came in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI double by Pauley, which made the score 4-1.

In the bottom of the ninth, second baseman Otto Lopez made things interesting with a two-run home run off Pirates’ closer David Bednar. Unfortunately for Miami, the magic ended there as they suffered their first loss of the young campaign.

“These guys are never going to quit and will keep giving ourselves chances late. I’m proud of the way we clawed back a little bit there at the end and got close,” McCullough added.