MIAMI _ As Don Mattingly gently and deliberately walked to the mound, Dan Straily froze, his right foot planted on the pitching rubber while his left one dug into the dirt beneath him. He held the baseball in his glove and his face wore a mask of disbelief.
The scene unfolded in the fifth inning of the Marlins' 6-3 win over the Braves on Friday night in front of 9,149, with Miami clinging to a one-run lead and Atlanta threatening to tie the game. Straily's pitch count climbed into triple-digits and Nick Markakis just laced a double off the right-hander.
One more hit would have tied the game. One more out would have protected the lead. So Mattingly visited Straily. He allowed Straily to stay in the game, entrusting the 29-year-old veteran to wiggle free. Kurt Suzuki grounded out to third base.
The meeting preceded two more add-on runs in the bottom of the inning and backed three-hit nights from J.T. Realmuto and Miguel Rojas. Realmuto finished a triple shy of the cycle, stroking a first-inning double, launching a third-inning home run and driving in a run with a fourth-inning single. Rojas sprayed three singles.
The Marlins win ended a four-game losing streak in which Miami was outscored by 29 total runs. It was Straily's first win of the season. He lasted just four innings in both of his previous starts this season.
Straily's performance was a small step back to where the Marlins need him to stabilize a young rotation. Jose Urena is 26 years old. Jarlin Garcia and Caleb Smith have 15 combined career starts. Wei-Yin Chen's ERA resides above 10. But Straily, he is steady. If not remarkable, he is dependable. (Across 373 innings the last two seasons, he has a 4.01 ERA.)
He finished Friday night surrendering three runs (two earned) on three hits and three walks. Straily struck out five Braves and threw a season-high 102 pitches.
Straily backed a Miami offense that generated baserunners and chances, but failed to capitalize on its many chances. The Marlins left a man on base in each of the first seven innings and squandered a quartet of chances with inning-ending double plays.
With two men on in the fourth inning, Martin Prado grounded into a 5-4-3 double play. With two men on in the fifth inning, Lewis Brinson lined into a one with a shot to third; Derek Dietrich was doubled off second. With two men on in the sixth inning, Starlin Castro grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.
The Marlins tagged Braves started Brandon McCarthy for 11 hits and two walks in five innings, but could only wound him for six runs.
Realmuto did his part. The Marlins catcher has been stellar for Miami since returning to the lineup in mid-April. Among qualified Marlins hitters, Realmuto is first in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS. He leads the team in wins above replacement, according to both Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs.
On Friday night, he gave the Marlins the lead twice: once by scoring the opening run and again with a solo homer. But his quest to become the first Marlins cycle ended in the eighth inning when he lined out to short. On the season, he now owns a .325/.395/.558 slash line.
