After Opening Day comeback, Marlins seek to defeat Pirates again

After Opening Day comeback, Marlins seek to defeat Pirates again

After Opening Day comeback, Marlins seek to defeat Pirates again

With four starting pitchers on the injured list, the Miami Marlins will turn to rookie right-hander Connor Gillispie on Friday night as they again host the Pittsburgh Pirates.

On Opening Day for both teams on Thursday, Miami earned a 5-4 walk-off win.

It will be the first major league start for Gillispie, 27.

After playing at VCU, he was Baltimore's ninth-round pick in the 2019 MLB Draft. The Cleveland Guardians claimed him in December 2023 via the Rule 5 draft, and he went 0-0 with a 2.25 ERA in three MLB relief outings in 2024. He struck out eight and walked five in eight innings.

The Marlins signed him two months ago, and now he will get his big chance with Eury Perez, Edward Cabrera, Ryan Weathers and Braxton Garrett on the injured list. This will be his first appearance against the Pirates.

Weathers and Cabrera should return in April. Perez is expected back in mid-July, and Garrett is out for the year.

The Marlins also are missing two starting position players as right fielder Jesus Sanchez and third baseman Connor Norby likely are out about a month, as is right-handed reliever Declan Cronin. Lefty reliever Andrew Nardi landed on the 60-day IL on March 15.

But even with those eight players on the injured list and the lowest payroll in the majors at $67.9 million, the Marlins are off to a good start.

The Marlins trailed 4-2 in the eighth inning on Thursday before rallying. In the ninth, Nick Fortes tripled off the wall, and left fielder Kyle Stowers lined a walk-off single to give Miami manager Clayton McCullough his first MLB win.

"We're a bunch of fighters," Fortes said. "I know a lot of people have written our team off, but we don't believe that. We know we have a lot talent, and we're going to play hard every night."

Stowers made his first Opening Day start.

"To battle like we did and come up with a win was fun," he said.

The Pirates will start right-hander Mitch Keller on Friday, a day after young star Paul Skenes left his start in the sixth inning with a two-run lead that the bullpen -- and the defense -- couldn't hold.

Keller, who will turn 29 next week, has spent his entire six-year career with the Pirates. In 133 games, including 131 starts, he is 36-50 with a 4.59 ERA. Last season, he started 31 games and finished 11-12 with a 4.25 ERA.

He has made six career starts against the Marlins, going 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA.

The Pirates hope to give Keller better support than what they showed on Thursday. Even though all five runs allowed by the Pirates were earned, catcher Joey Bart was charged with two passed balls, including one that allowed a run to score.

In addition, Pirates first baseman Endy Rodriguez was charged with a fielding error. Worse yet, center fielder Oneil Cruz -- who played shortstop until making the switch late last season -- made a couple of costly miscues.

In the eighth inning, he threw home, allowing a runner to advance to second base. That runner then scored as Miami tied Pittsburgh 4-4.

One inning later, Cruz misplayed Fortes' shot to the wall into a triple, and that led to Stowers' game-winning single.

"We didn't play good enough defense," Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. "We had a lead late in the game, and we didn't close it down."

--Field Level Media