The perfect story was being authored during Saturday afternoon’s middle game between the visiting Marlins and Orioles at a cloudy Camden Yards.
Trevor Rogers was presented with the opportunity to face his former team for the first time, more than eight years after being Miami’s top draft pick. Rogers was dealt to the O’s on July 30, 2024, and the Marlins have been widely lauded for receiving starting third baseman Connor Norby and All-Star outfielder Kyle Stowers in exchange for him.
The southpaw rose to the occasion, forfeiting just two hits in six and two-thirds innings of work. Unluckily, Rogers played second fiddle to the man opposite him.
Janson Junk stole the show with the first seven-inning outing of his career, shutting out Baltimore’s offense in the process. Aided by a late avalanche from his club’s bats, Junk spearheaded Miami’s 6-0 victory, their first in four tries.
Junk’s five-hit, two-strikeout performance checked off all the boxes of a prototypical day from the 29-year-old. Tremendously commanded? Of course. Low pitch count? Yep. Pitching to contact? You guessed it, yes.
Sticking to his calling card, Junk operated in the zone at a stellar clip—59 of his 89 pitches were strikes, including 17 of 26 first-pitch offerings. An aggressive Orioles lineup and Junk’s philosophy of attacking hitters culminated in an average of a little over three pitches per plate appearance. Junk threw his four-seamer 45% of the time, mixing in his offspeed offerings—the slider, sweeper, curveball, changeup—in a variety of ways to keep a powerful offense off balance.
With his first half now in the books, Junk boasts a 0.99 WHIP and 2.68 ERA, the latter being the lowest amongst arms who have started a game for Miami thus far. Although he entered the year with the résumé of an ordinary journeyman, his hard work and collaboration with the Marlins’ pitching development minds has unlocked something.
The out-of-nowhere explosion from the Marlins lineup was kicked off by Derek Hill in the seventh, who entered the at-bat hitless in 14 tries since returning from the IL on the first of the month. Jesús Sánchez, Javier Sanoja and Hill added insurance in the eighth and ninth, setting the stage for one of the best moments of the season.
Xavier Edwards previously had belted just one long ball in his MLB career—July 28 a year ago, the day he hit for the cycle. Edwards had repeatedly threatened to end the home run drought dating back to a Saturday ago against Milwaukee. This time, he got just enough.
All six of the Marlins’ runs scored in two-out situations, continuing a season-long trend.
With their 43rd victory under their belts, Miami returns to eight games under .500 with great momentum to secure another series victory in Sunday’s rubber match at 1:35, with Eury Pérez facing off against Brandon Young.