Fairbanks' nerve irritation issue arises again, exits in 9th inning

MIAMI -- Marlins closer Pete Fairbanks will undergo further evaluation after exiting with nerve irritation in the ninth inning of Monday night’s 4-2 loss to the Red Sox at loanDepot park.

Fairbanks, who walked leadoff batter Mickey Gasper, motioned to the dugout on his fifth and final pitch -- a 96 mph four-seamer. He didn’t attempt any warmup throws before departing with manager Clayton McCullough and a member of the training staff.

“It just kind of sneaks up on you,” Fairbanks said. “Warming up you feel fine, you feel fine throughout the day, you'll try and let one go, and all of a sudden it just kind of spirals on itself. So it's hard to pinpoint which one does it when it is just something that kind of compounds on itself.”

This marks the second time this season Fairbanks has dealt with nerve irritation, previously experiencing it during an outing at Dodger Stadium that landed him on the injured list on April 28. He was later reinstated from the IL on May 13.

Unlike last time, Fairbanks said he felt the numbness not just in his fingers but throughout his whole arm.

Fairbanks’ setback comes at an inopportune time, with the club 4 1/2 games back of the Padres for the final National League Wild Card spot with 30 games remaining in the regular season. Entering Monday’s series opener, Fairbanks had given up just one run on two hits with four walks and 16 strikeouts over his last 10 outings. During that stretch, he had secured saves in five of his six chances.

“We had some pretty positive results in Pensacola last time, so hopefully I can get up there and we can shoot me up with a bunch of stuff that lets me get back in the ‘pen and throwing the ball over the plate,” Fairbanks said. “And, most importantly, feeling my hand and knowing where it's going.”

Righty Tyler Zuber took over from Fairbanks with the game tied at 2 and proceeded to give up the go-ahead triple to Anthony Seigler and an RBI single to Nick Sogard.

In Fairbanks’ absence, McCullough has a number of arms he could turn to. Five members of the active roster -- Calvin Faucher (two), Tyler Phillips (two), Josh Ekness (one), Michael Petersen (one) and Tyler Zuber (one) -- have recorded saves this season.

“We've had a number of individuals in different spots, whether the rotation, bullpen, lineup, go down for periods of time this year,” McCullough said. “So I think we'll just go into each day with -- on the pitching side -- what we have available and kind of what we can ask of them, and where we think it's the best place to go put guys. [The] good thing is that a number of our guys have experienced pitching in a lot of different spots. So I think we'll just lean on that and go out there with the ones that we have available each day.”