Drafted seventh overall by the San Diego Padres in 2018, Ryan Weathers did not reach his potential with them. After posting a 5.73 ERA in 43 major league appearances (29 starts), Weathers was traded to Miami at the 2023 MLB trade deadline. He has grown a lot since then and showed it on Monday night, going 5 ⅔ innings pitched, allowing two runs (both unearned) on three hits, three walks and a season-high six strikeouts. His fastball topped out at 99.2 mph, a mark he never reached with his former club.

Unfortunately, Weathers’ great start was not enough for the Miami Marlins. Their offense went silent after taking an early 3-0 lead and the Padres battled back to walk it off in the bottom of the 11th by a final score of 4-3.

Weathers’ best pitch on Monday was his changeup, generating six whiffs and four punchouts with that pitch. Going into his start, he had thrown his changeup 29.5% of the time, making it his second-most-used pitch.

“The stuff, you could see a lot of the empty swings and I think the fastball velocity, I think he did a good job of getting in on some righties at times, that kept the changeup open,” said manager Clayton McCullough following the game. “He was good again. This is how Ryan has been throwing. To come back and—especially, I’m sure, a lot on his mind coming back here and a lot of emotions going into that—to be able to channel it and stay within himself and just continue to make pitch after pitch was a really great outing.”

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Weathers began the inning striking out Manny Machado swinging and inducing a groundout. -Padres big ticket free agent from a couple years back, Xander Bogaerts smacked a base hit and stole second, marking his tenth stolen base of the season. With a runner on second and two outs, Jake Cronenworth reached first on a throwing error on Marlins third baseman Connor Norby, marking his third error of the season. That permitted Bogaerts to advance to third.

After Weathers issued his second walk of the game, the bases were loaded for former Marlins minor league signing José Iglesias who hit a double down the left field line, driving in two runs and making it a 3-2 lead for the Fish. Weathers would remain in the game, inducing a groundout. After a 1-2-3 fifth, Weathers recorded two outs in the sixth inning, but was taken out in place of Jesús Tinoco who faced former Marlin Luis Arraez. He flew out to Jesús Sánchez to wrap up the bottom of the sixth.

Through three starts in 2025 since coming off the injured list, Weathers has an outstanding 1.15 ERA. Overall as a Marlin, he owns a 3.75 ERA, nearly two full runs better than what he did during his Padres tenure.

The Marlins offense got off to a hot start thanks to their one-two punch at the top of the order. Jesus Sanchez, who is leading off for against right-handed pitching, recorded a base hit into right field, setting up designated hitter Agustín Ramírez who drove in Sanchez with his 11th double of the season, but 17th extra base hit of the season. It gave the Marlins an early 1-0 lead. Ramírez was driven in by Norby on an RBI single, giving Weathers a 2-0 cushion to work with.

In his second at-bat of the night, Sanchez took Padres starter Randy Vásquez deep for his third home run of the season. The ball went 417 feet to dead center at 111.0 miles per hour. It gave the Marlins a 3-0 lead.

 

Tyler Phillips entered the ballgame in the bottom of the ninth to face the Padres bottom of the order, which he was able to retire successfully and lead his team into extras, but it was what he did in the 10th inning that was surprising. Having to face the top of the Padres order, consisting of Fernando Tatis Jr., Jackson Merrill and Manny Machado, he retired them in order. Tatis and Merrill both lined out while Machado flew out to right field, keeping the game at three apiece.

Victor Mesa Jr., who was called up prior to Monday’s game, entered the game in center field in the bottom of the seventh inning. His first at-bat didn’t come until the tenth inning, with an opportunity to put his team on top. After making a great but late swing at the first pitch, he fouled off the second pitch, putting him in a 0-2 count. He took the next pitch, then right-hander Jason Adam struck him out swinging on a slider away. 

The Marlins went with lefty Cade Gibson in the 11th inning. After Gavin Sheets grounded out to second base, moving the runner to third, Gibson threw a curveball which spiked on the ground and allowing the runner on third to score, walking it off and defeating the Marlins.

With the loss, the Marlins fall to 21-31 on the season. Max Meyer will toe the rubber against Stephen Kolek, brother of former Marlins first-round pick, Tyler Kolek. Victor Mesa Jr. is also expected to start for the Marlins. First pitch is at 9:40 pm.