NEW YORK — With catcher J.T. Realmuto back in the lineup, the Miami Marlins rebounded from an ugly loss and looked much more like a major league team.
Realmuto homered and drove in four runs in his season debut after coming off the disabled list, leading Jarlin Garcia and the stripped-down Marlins to a 9-1 blowout of the sloppy New York Yankees on Tuesday night.
"They play really hard," Miami manager Don Mattingly said about his club. "We’re just a young team that I think’s going in the right direction."
Garcia (1-0) gave up one hit in five shutout innings , pitching around five early walks to win for the first time as a starter. Miguel Andujar doubled with one out in the fifth against Garcia — who held the New York Mets hitless for six innings last week in his initial major league start.
"He just continued what I’ve been seeing him do before I got back," Realmuto said. "He’s throwing the ball really well."
One night after a 12-1 drubbing in the Bronx, the last-place Marlins (5-12) returned the favour to split the two-game series. The listless Yankees committed two costly errors in the first two innings as Miami built a 4-0 lead.
New York also threw a wild pitch and had a passed ball on a 44-degree night. The Yankees (8-8) have made an AL-high 17 errors in 16 games.
"We’ve got to get better in that department, and we will," rookie manager Aaron Boone said.
Realmuto broke open the game with a three-run homer off Masahiro Tanaka (2-2) in the fifth, and the Marlins set a season high for runs. The athletic backstop, sidelined by a bruised back since March 11, wanted to provide a lift in his return.
"Hopefully, the spark lasts a lot longer than one game," Realmuto said. "With these young guys, you can see they don’t get their heads down. They wash it away with their shower that night and the next day they’re coming in hungry ready to go try and win a ballgame."
Mattingly, a former Yankees captain, pulled Garcia after 77 pitches against the Mets last Wednesday, saying it was an easy decision because the 25-year-old lefty, a rookie reliever last season, never would have been left in long enough to finish a no-hitter.
Garcia was far less efficient this time, throwing only 48 of 92 pitches for strikes while earning his second career win. But he put together a streak of 10 1/3 hitless innings against New York teams and still hasn’t given up a run as a big league starter.
"I was just concentrating on controlling my emotions in those situations, focusing on my delivery and trying to get my pitches where I wanted them to go," Garcia said through a translator.
Four relievers finished the four-hitter. Andujar hit his first major league homer off Brad Ziegler with two outs in the ninth, spoiling the shutout.
New York went 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position.
Tanaka threw only 17 fastballs on 83 pitches and was charged with seven runs, six earned, and eight hits in five innings.
"I’m very disappointed in myself," he said through a translator.
A BRONX FAIL
Slumping slugger Giancarlo Stanton struck out twice more and grounded into a double play, finishing 0 for 4 and drawing boos from Yankees fans again. Last year’s NL MVP, traded to New York in the off-season as part of a payroll purge by new Marlins CEO and ex-Yankees captain Derek Jeter, went hitless in his first series against his former team. Stanton is 3 for 35 (.086) with 20 strikeouts at home this season. "Track record don’t matter in the moment," he said. "You’ve got to own up to it and understand and find a way to get better, find a way to get out of it." Stanton has batted third but might be dropped slightly in the order, Boone said.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Marlins: LHP Wei-Yin Chen (strained left elbow) allowed one run and three hits over 2 2/3 innings in a rehab start for Class A Jupiter. He struck out four, walked one and threw 60 pitches. … 3B Martin Prado (strained left hamstring) played five innings at extended spring training for the second consecutive day and will be evaluated Wednesday. He could begin a minor league rehab assignment soon. … RHP Dan Straily (strained right forearm) is scheduled to pitch Wednesday for Jupiter.
Yankees: Right-handed reliever Tommy Kahnle was placed on the 10-day DL with right shoulder tendinitis. RHP Luis Cessa got recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre but was removed in the eighth with a strained left oblique. He is scheduled for an MRI on Wednesday and will become the 13th player on New York’s 40-man roster to go on the DL this season. … Top prospect Gleyber Torres sat out for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre but could return to the Triple-A lineup Wednesday. The touted infielder, expected to be called up soon, left Monday night’s game with stiffness in the middle of his back. "They don’t think it’s anything serious," Boone said.
UP NEXT
Marlins: After a day off, the Marlins send LHP Dillon Peters (2-1, 6.75 ERA) to the mound Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series at Milwaukee.
Yankees: LHP CC Sabathia (strained right hip) comes off the DL to start Thursday night against Toronto RHP Aaron Sanchez (1-1, 3.66) in the opener of a four-game set. The 37-year-old Sabathia has a 4.00 ERA and no decisions in two starts this season. He is 17-11 with a 3.59 ERA against the Blue Jays.
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