Max Meyer didn’t have his best stuff on Saturday. He didn’t need it. The right-hander battled through five shaky innings to secure his eighth consecutive victory, leading the Miami Marlins to a 6-3 win over the San Francisco Giants.
It was Miami’s seventh straight home win. Suddenly, a team that looked dead in the water in April is over .500 at 39-38, riding a blistering 13-4 run in June.
Meyer’s afternoon was a grind. He surrendered seven hits, walked two, and struck out seven. Yet, he survived. By finishing a clean fifth inning, he moved to 8-0, eclipsing Dontrelle Willis’s 2005 franchise record for the best start to a season.
San Francisco had chances. They wasted them. The Giants left nine runners stranded on base. Casey Schmitt did what he could, racking up two doubles and a solo home run, but his efforts were wasted.
The Marlins blew the game open in the fourth. They chased Giants starter Trevor McDonald, who couldn’t find the strike zone, walking three and hitting three batters in a miserable three-plus innings. Heriberto Hernández capped the four-run outburst with a towering two-run blast off reliever Matt Gage. Jakob Marsee drove in a run with a single, and Otto López scored on a bases-loaded double play.
López also singled in the fourth. With that hit, he became the first player in the majors to reach the 100-hit milestone this season.
Schmitt clawed one back with an RBI double in the eighth, but Pete Fairbanks slammed the door with a perfect ninth for his 11th save.
Up next, Logan Webb tries to salvage the series for the Giants on Sunday against Miami’s Ryan Gusto. Don’t hold your breath.
