Edward Cabrera continues to build confidence in another strong start in Marlins’ loss to Brewers

Edward Cabrera is pitching with more confidence than ever.

You might have sensed it Sunday watching him face the Brewers — dominant, aside from one bad pitch.

Or maybe you saw it in the boxscore: seven innings completed in back-to-back starts for the first time in his career.

If there was any doubt that he has reached a new emotional high, Cabrera erased it with a single word after the Marlins’ 3-1 loss at loanDepot park.

“Sí,” he said.

The confidence, Cabrera explained, “comes from within. First God, and then me.”

On Sunday, Cabrera allowed two runs on five hits, struck out six and didn’t issue a walk. In his previous start, July 1 against the Twins, he gave up no runs and just two hits while striking out six and walking one.

“Us starters, we constantly work to go deeper in the game,” Cabrera said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. “Just having these back to-back outings going this deep, I’m very grateful and happy to see those results.”

So what has changed? How has Cabrera been able to pitch deeper after completing six innings just once in his first 13 starts?

“Just trying to stay on top of the hitters,” Cabrera said. “Try and make sure those favorable counts are not for the hitters, but actually for me.”

With only one walk in 14 innings during his past two outings, Cabrera became the first Marlins starter to pitch at least seven innings and allow one walk or fewer in consecutive starts since Sandy Alcantara (July 26 and Aug. 1, 2023).

For essentially the past two months, Cabrera has been in control on the mound.

He entered Sunday’s game with a 1.46 ERA (six earned runs in 37 innings) over his previous seven starts.

“We just continue to see a more refined version of him as a pitcher,” McCullough said. “He has continued to make big pitches when he needs to and still fill up the zone at a very high rate. That’s what we’ve seen now for, really, a long stretch of starts. So, we expect that now out of Cabby every time he goes out there — that you’re going to get a really high quality start and he’s going to take us deep into the game.”

Jackson Chourio’s two-run homer to left in the third — following Christian Yelich’s infield single — provided the Brewers’ only runs off Cabrera.

“That’s part of the game — 90 pitches, if I make one mistake, what can we do about it?” Cabrera said.

Chourio’s sacrifice fly off reliever Valente Bellozo in the eighth padded the Brewers’ lead after Heriberto Hernández homered to left in the fifth — one of just three Marlins hits on Sunday.

“It’s tough to really scratch and mount [offense] against really good arms, and they threw the ball well again today,” McCullough said.

The Marlins went 3-3 on their six-game homestand, losing three of their final five games after beating the Twins on Tuesday to extend their winning streak to eight games — the franchise’s longest since 2008. While they fell short of winning their fifth consecutive series, McCullough was pleased with the effort against the Brewers over the weekend.

“It was a terrific homestand — measuring this with the quality at which we played,” McCullough said. “We’re playing close, competitive games it feels like every single day. This series, unfortunately, we just weren’t able to overcome a couple of deficits late.”

▪ Jim Leyland, who managed the Marlins when they won the 1997 World Series, was inducted into the franchise’s Legends Hall of Fame before the game. Leyland and McCullough met before the game.

“What a genuine gracious man,” McCullough said. “He took some time to sit in the office and meet with myself and coaches and just chopped it up a little bit. He’s got such an incredible journey. Long time in the minor leagues. Long time in the big leagues. He’s seen and done it all. I certainly appreciated him willing to take the time to chop it up on what was a special day for him and a well-deserved day for what he’d done here and his whole career.”

▪ Probable starters for the Reds series include Janson Junk on Monday, Eury Pérez on Tuesday, Sandy Alcantara on Wednesday and Cal Quantrill on Thursday.

▪ Catcher Rob Brantly (right lat strain) began a rehab assignment in Triple-A Jacksonville.

This story was originally published July 6, 2025 at 6:02 PM.