Dating back to spring training, Braxton Garrett thought he was at the point where he could crack the Miami Marlins’ starting rotation. The left-handed pitcher had made 10 appearances over 2020 and 2021 with spotty results but felt more prepared heading into this season with an upgraded pitch mix featuring an improved slider as well as a better understanding of how his pitches play at the big league level.
Garrett didn’t break camp with the club, starting the season in Triple A before missing time with a shoulder injury.
He finally got the call up last as the Marlins dealt with injuries (Jesus Luzardo and Cody Poteet) and underperformance (Elieser Hernandez) with the bottom of its rotation.
Whether he stays long-term is tough to gauge at this point, but at the very least, Garrett is giving the Marlins something to ponder.
The 24-year-old was dominant on Saturday, holding the Houston Astros to one unearned run over 5 2/3 innings in the Marlins’ 5-1 series-clinching win at Minute Maid Park — Miami’s fifth consecutive win to improve to 27-30 on the season.
Garrett recorded five strikeouts while scattering six hits and issuing one walk as he picked up his first win of the season. He threw 83 pitches, 59 of which went for strikes, and minimized damage despite the Astros (36-23) regularly having traffic on the basepaths.
He worked around a Michael Brantley one-out single in the first by striking out Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez, hopping off the mound and pumping his fist into his glove as he made his way back to the dugout. He worked around a Kyle Tucker one-out double in the second by striking out Jeremy Pena and getting Mauricio Dubon to line out to center field.
After cruising through the third and fourth, Garrett gave up his only run in the fifth when Jose Altuve’s double off the wall in left-center scored Pena, who led off the inning by reaching on a fielding error.
And in the sixth, he had runners on first and second with no outs on a Bregman double and Alvarez walk. He retired the next two batters — Yuli Gurriel popping out and Tucker grounding out — before being lifted. Dylan Floro stranded the two inherited runners by striking out Pena.
It followed up Garrett’s season debut on Sunday, a 5-1 loss in which he was solid for three innings against the San Francisco Giants before giving up a grand slam in the fourth.
Anthony Bass worked out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the seventh by striking out Brantley and getting Bregman to hit into a double play. Steven Okert worked a perfect eighth and Louis Head sealed the win with a scoreless ninth inning.
And one day after belting out four home runs, the Marlins manufactured their offense on Saturday. They scored three runs in the second on two groundball singles, two walks and an RBI groundout, added another run in the third on an RBI fielder’s choice and tacked on a fifth run in the bottom of the ninth on back-to-back two-out singles.
