Miami Marlins’ Braxton Garrett pitches a 'Maddux' in first career shutout against Diamondbacks
Miami Marlins starting ace Braxton Garrett pitched a 'Maddux' on Friday to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-0. Named after legendary pitcher Greg Maddux, the term is used when a pitcher has a complete game shutout tossing less than 100 pitches.
Garrett only needed 95 pitches to cruise past the Dbacks offense. He just gave up four hits and had six strikeouts. His 95th pitch retired Christian Walker, who sent a long fly ball to be caught at center. Garrett shook hands with catcher Nick Fortes after that.
Moreover, it was also his first career shutout in his MLB career, which started in Sept. 2020. This was only his third start of the season, as he missed nearly two months of the season due to a shoulder injury.
In his previous two starts, Braxton Garrett was poor. On May 12 against the Philadelphia Phillies, he allowed five earned runs across 5.1 innings pitched. That was followed by another poor start when he took the mound on May 19 against the New York Mets, where he allowed six earned runs in 4.1 innings pitched.
His complete game shutout on Friday helped his ERA drop to 5.30.
Braxton Garrett's shutout enough for Marlins to overpower Dbacks at Chase Field
While Braxton Garrett was doing his work from one end, it didn't take much time for the Marlins offense to catch fire.
Second baseman Otto Lopez gave the Marlins an early 2-0 lead in the second innings after he hit the ball in center, driving in Jake Burger and Jesus Sanchez. The lead was extended to 3-0 after first baseman Burger had smoked a no-doubter in the fourth inning.
The Dbacks pitching did well to not let more runs go in, but their offense couldn't muster a run against Braxton Garrett. Zac Gallen, though not at his best, still went the distance and pitched seven strong innings.
On Saturday, the two teams clash again, with LHP Jordan Montgomery (2-2, 4.98 ERA) set to take the mound for the Dbacks, while RHP Sixto Sanchez (0-2, 6.41 ERA) will start for the Marlins.