“I feel like the game finds a way to even itself out, and it will…It’s starting to get frustrating (with) how many guys are getting hit. As pitchers, we’ve got to do a better job protecting those guys.”
Those were the words of San Francisco ace Logan Webb and 2024 All-Star following his no-decision on Wednesday night. Webb took exception to Marlins reliever Calvin Faucher hitting back-to-back Giants with nobody out in the bottom of the ninth…in a two-run ballgame that the Fish eventually won in extra innings.
“Hopefully, there’s a little bit of edge tomorrow because of some of the stuff that happened today. Hope we come out with a lot of energy”.
Webb’s wish was granted in Thursday afternoon’s matinee, and quickly.
After retiring Xavier Edwards and Jesús Sánchez in swift fashion, second-year right-hander Hayden Birdsong delivered a 97.5 mph heater to the thigh of Otto Lopez. Umpires converged and decided to warn both teams, a verdict that didn’t sit well with Marlins skipper Clayton McCullough.
McCullough, understandably irate, demanded answers from home plate ump Alfonso Márquez. Moments later, McCullough was ejected for the second time in his managerial career.
Whether it was McCullough standing up for his guys or simply outrage at Birdsong and the Giants, the controversial sequence threw gas on an already raging fire in the form of Miami’s offense. The unit rattled off a combined twelve runs in the first two games of the set.
One pitch following the debacle, Agustín Ramírez delivered instant karma with a frozen rope double. Then it was Kyle Stowers—who played college baseball an hour south at Stanford—sending a message to not only the veteran Giants, but McCullough. The ex-Cardinal channeled his emotion into power on a hanging Birdsong slider, mashing a three-run blast 440 feet to center field. The moonshot was the farthest-hit ball of Stowers’ big league career.
Stowers’ tone-setting rocket was foreshadowing for what was to come the rest of the afternoon. An unexpected Janson Junk blow-up inning in the fifth saw San Francisco even things up in the middle, but contributions from every player in Miami’s lineup coupled 5 ⅓ scoreless innings from their bullpen were enough for an eventual 12-5 rout and series sweep out west.
Two innings after Stowers, Ramírez continued the fireworks with his twelfth homer, increasing Miami’s lead to five while joining elite Oracle Park company.
The rookie C/DH and Stowers were responsible for plating half of the Marlins’ runs with three apiece. The duo of Xavier Edwards and Eric Wagaman added two of their own as well, with both coming on doubles in the later innings. Wagaman’s knock in the fifth broke the aforementioned 5-5 tie.
Thursday’s all-around showing put an exclamation point on what has been an impressive month thus far for Pedro Guerrero’s group. Miami’s offense has a National League-best .268 batting average since June 1.
As for Junk—making his second start of 2025 and was backpacking off a tremendous performance last Friday against Atlanta—his infamous strike-throwing ended up being detrimental.
Innings one through three were smooth sailing outside of Rafael Devers‘ second homer as a Giant, yet Junk ran into trouble in the fourth after allowing four consecutive hits. Acting manager Carson Vitale made the decision to relieve the 29-year-old at just 73 pitches with two outs and the go-ahead run on third.
Junk’s final line (3.2 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 1 HR, 73 NP) wasn’t as pretty as his debut outing. The 89% first-pitch strike number shows that opposing hitters, simply put, made good swings on good pitches.
Aiming to push their win streak on the road to seven, Miami heads to the desert for a date with the Diamondbacks. Merrill Kelly, riding an impressive previous two months, stands in their way for Friday’s series opener at 9:40. Opposite Kelly and making his fourth start of 2025 is Eury Pérez, succeeding an outing in which he showed plenty of flashes of his vintage self even in a losing effort.