Scrappy Marlins lineup has no answers for Reds pitching in shutout loss
The Miami Marlins have already shown over the course of this young season that they can be — and will be — a scrappy bunch and a tough out to deal with at the plate on most nights.
On Monday night, though, as Miami opened a four-game series home series with the Cincinnati Reds, those bats went relatively quiet.
The Reds held the Marlins, who didn’t arrive back in Miami from their road series against the New York Yankees until 2 a.m. Monday, to just three hits as Miami fell 2-0 at loanDepot park — the team’s first shutout defeat of the season.
Miami falls to 6-4. The Reds improve to 7-3.
The Marlins’ only true threat came in the sixth, when catcher Agustin Ramirez hit a two-out triple off the top of the wall in right field. He was stranded at third when Jakob Marsee, who hit into a pair of lineouts earlier in the game, struck out one at-bat later. It was a rare off night at the plate from a Miami team that entered the game averaging just over nine hits and 5.4 runs per game.
“We stung a number of balls that, unfortunately, tonight were at people,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. “The ones that we squared up just didn’t fall.”
It also foiled a strong start from pitcher Janson Junk, who tossed a career-high 7 1/3 innings and held the Reds to just two runs on an RBI single from Miami Westminster Christian alumnus Sal Stewart in the fourth and a Tyler Stephenson solo home run in the eighth.
Junk was effective on the mound, needing just 87 pitches to log his 22 outs. He mixed in his entire arsenal, with 24 four-seam fastballs, 23 sliders, 23 changeups, 12 sweepers and six curveballs. He threw first-pitch strikes to 18 of the 29 batters he faced (62%) and only allowed three runners to get into scoring position (one of which scored).
But the Reds’ pitching staff was even more effective. Brandon Williamson tossed 6 2/3 scoreless innings before the trio of Brock Burke (1/3 inning), Tony Santillan (one inning) and Emilio Pagan threw the final 2 1/3 innings out of the bullpen to secure the shutout.
Fairbanks to paternity list
The Marlins on Monday placed right-handed pitcher Pete Fairbanks on the paternity list.
Fairbanks, the Marlins’ primary closer, served as an opener for Miami’s 7-6 win over the Yankees on Sunday, a game that was delayed more than three-and-a-half hours by inclement weather in the Bronx. The move came so that he could depart the stadium as quickly as possible in order to return to Florida to be with his wife Lydia, who was scheduled to give birth to their fourth child on Monday.
Miami called up right-handed pitcher Ryan Gusto from Triple A Jacksonville in a corresponding move to provide length to Miami’s bullpen in Fairbanks’ absence.
“Ryan comes here and he’s stretched out as a starter, so he can provide us certainly some length if needed,” McCullough said pregame Monday. “He’s built out, he’s gone five ups. So if we need that type of length here potentially over the next few days, Ryan is ready for that. Ryan had a good camp, so mostly right now, with what was asked of a lot of individuals over the weekend, having Ryan be able to come up here and provide us some really quality length will be very beneficial.”
This story was originally published April 6, 2026 at 8:59 PM.
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