Max Meyer Tosses Scoreless Gem and Strikes out 14

Starting pitching seems to be their bread and butter for the Miami Marlins, and Max Meyer proved that point Monday night. In a rotation with former Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara, Meyer made his case for ace in a dominant, MLB season high, 14-strikeout performance against the Cincinnati Reds, who just one night before, plated 24 runs.

Max Meyer’s Scoreless Gem

Meyer continued his strong start to the season against the Reds at Loan Depot Park in Miami. He has completed six innings in all four of his starts this month and kept the opposing team off the board in two of them. On Monday night, it was more of the same. The third overall pick in the 2020 draft pitched six scoreless innings and cruised through each. 

After TJ Friedl led off the game with a single to right field, Meyer settled in, striking out the side. Matt McLain whiffed, Elly De La Cruz went down looking, and Austin Hays with a nasty slider in the dirt. Meyer’s night was just getting started. In the 2nd and 3rd, he sat down the Reds one-two-three, adding four more strikeouts to his total as hitters swatted at air. In the 4th, he perplexed the offense by striking out the side. 

The 5th inning was the only stressful one for the 26-year-old. With one out, Jake Fraley singled, followed by a strong double from Noelvi Marte, leading to runners on second and third. Meyer locked in, struck out Jose Trevino, and got Friedl to ground out to second base. The threat was over. To solidify his night, Meyer struck out the side again in the 6th and put the Marlins in a great position to win, which they did 6-3, behind his amazing 14-strikeout game. Meyer is currently sitting at 2-2 with a 2.10 ERA.

Final Thoughts 

The Marlins are in third place in the National League East, two games under .500 at 10-12. They are 2.5 games back from the second-place Philadelphia Phillies and 5.5 games behind the New York Mets in first. They’ve had a rough stretch as of late, getting swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks at home, and then losing two of three to the division rival Phillies. The Marlins hope to turn things around to stay competitive before it’s too late.