Closer falters. A walk-off double shatters Marlins' lead, handing victory to the Braves in a nail-biting 6-5 finish.
Apparently, if you don’t use it, he’ll lose it.
Miami Marlins closer Pete Fairbanks, making his first appearance since April 5, gave up a three-run double to Dominic Smith, leading to a 6-5 defeat to the Braves in Atlanta on Tuesday.
Smith stepped to the plate with the bases loaded after a pair of singles and a hit-by-pitch.
“I just want to give big ups to the guys before me getting on base. That’s a tough pitcher out there,” Smith said after the game. “For them to work counts, get some good hits, and to put me up there, a lot of credit goes to them.”
After three foul balls and a 1-2 count, Fairbanks’ cutter stayed inside the middle of the zone and Smith struck gold.
“To shoot that ball like he did (to) left-center, a short hop at the wall, it’s not easy to do,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said during his postgame press conference. “Everything’s gotta be right to hit the ball the opposite way.”
Fairbanks suffered his first blown save and loss of the season, giving up three runs on three hits and one strikeout. The outing, which followed a start nine days ago that involved giving up a three-run home run on the road against the New York Yankees, raised his ERA to 10.80. Given the number of innings a closer typically throws, it will take a lot to bring it down.
The blown save spoiled another solid start from Max Meyer, who gave up three runs on five hits with five strikeouts over five innings pitched. Michael Peterson pitched two innings in relief, allowing only one hit with a strikeout.
The Marlins (9-9) took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning. Jakob Marsee led off with a single and advanced to third base on a throwing error after Xavier Edwards drew a walk. Marsee scored on a sacrifice fly by Agustín Ramírez.
Otto Lopez led off the second inning with a walk and scored on a single by Connor Norby, who later advanced to second. After Javier Sanoja reached on a base hit and stole second, Graham Pauley nearly drove them both home on a double. Norby scored, but Sanoja was out at home plate. An RBI single by Marsee put Miami up 4-0.
The Braves (11-7) slowly climbed back with an RBI single by Smith in the third inning after a double by Ozzie Albies and back-to-back doubles by Drake Baldwin and Matt Olsen to make it a 4-3 game after the fourth inning.
A Lopez single in the eighth provided the Marlins with what they thought was an insurance run, but it turned out not to be enough. Marsee and Sanoja each had two hits to lead the Marlins.
The series concludes on Wednesday with a rubber match between Chris Paddack (0-2, 6.14 ERA) and Bryce Elder (1-1, 1.02 ERA).
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