ATLANTA -- After the Marlins were swept for the first time this season – a series in Detroit in which Miami scored just three runs over three games – it seemed like their offense recognized its potential to open this week’s series against the Braves.
On Monday at Truist Park, Miami tied its season high in hits (16) and runs (10) as the Marlins posted double digits and were the first team to post 10-plus runs against Atlanta this season.
In Tuesday’s 6-5 loss to the Braves, the Marlins’ offense picked up where it left off in the early innings. Miami posted four runs in the first two innings as it tried to hand Atlanta its first series loss of the season.
That was not to be.
Marlins starter Max Meyer got off to a shaky start in which he allowed three runs on five hits with one walk and five strikeouts over five innings.
Though the Braves’ offense scored early, Meyer recovered and posted three scoreless frames to round out his appearance.
After the Braves scored one run in the second and two in the third, Meyer and the Marlins’ pitching staff accomplished four scoreless innings, which allowed them to hold a 4-3 lead into the eighth.
Recently signed Dominic Smith, however, flipped the script against Miami reliever Pete Fairbanks.
Fairbanks, who was pitching in his first game since an April 5 start (as an opener), was, perhaps, rusty after a long layoff that included a paternity leave stint.
Fairbanks allowed three runs on three hits, including Smith’s game-winning three-run double, which gave the Braves a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the eighth.
Smith’s double came against a middle-middle cutter that Fairbanks threw 86.8 miles per hour.
“I don’t regret it,” Fairbanks said. “I don’t deal with regrets on the mound. I wanted that pitch, things didn’t work out [and] it wasn’t executed properly. It was a double in the gap and [we lost] the game. I’m not [going to] go out there and second guess what I wanted to throw.”
It marked the second straight game in which Fairbanks earned three runs after going scoreless in his first three appearances this season.
“He threw a lot of strikes,” said Marlins manager Clayton McCullough of Fairbanks. “I think [there was] some rust when he executed within the zone or [tried to get] an out in places that he wanted to. He started innocently enough. He made a good pitch and there was a well-placed [hit]. He almost thought he was out of it there and with Dom Smith swinging the bat well right now, he got something out over the plate and got a good swing on it there. It just didn’t go Pete’s and our way in the eighth.”
McCullough had no reservations about using Fairbanks after a long layoff.
“The plan [was] Pete was going to pitch,” McCullough said. “It has been a long layoff from his time on paternity. He was [going to] pitch in that game. We got to that point in the eighth and we said, ‘Let’s go and ensure he got his inning of work and we’d be fine in the ninth,’ but it just didn't work out.”
Marlins relievers had allowed just two runs over their last 20 innings heading into Tuesday's game.
McCullough said his squad’s insurance run in the eighth, which gave the Marlins a 5-3 lead, was another encouraging sign as Miami scored 10 runs on 16 hits the night prior.
“It was nice to score a big run in the eighth to add to the lead,” McCullough said. “I think any time you lose a game, you don’t feel great when it happens late like that but we have to have a short memory and turn the page tomorrow and come out and win the series.”