NEW YORK — Oh baby, the Marlins quickly decided to give Pete Fairbanks his first start since 2020.
Miami's closer left Yankee Stadium after pitching in the first inning in order to get home Sunday night ahead of his wife giving birth.
When it became clear the start of the game against New York was going to be delayed by rain, Marlins manager Clayton McCullough decided to open the game with the 32-year-old right-hander and send scheduled starter Chris Paddack to the bullpen.
Fairbanks' wife Lydia was scheduled to have labor induced on Monday morning.
“Let's just go ahead and let’s bank an inning here at the start of the game, and then you can take off and go enjoy,” McCullough said after the Marlins' come-from-behind 7-6 win, recalling his pregame discussion with Fairbanks.
This will be the third child for Fairbanks and his wife after a son, Isak, and daughter, Lotte. A daughter, Ellis, died after 19 weeks, 6 days of gestation during the 2023-24 offseason due to Turner Syndrome, a genetic disorder caused by a missing or partial X chromosome.
Rain caused the game to start at 5:10 p.m. after a three-hour, 35-minute delay. McCullough made the decision while speaking with Fairbanks during breakfast in the visitors clubhouse.
Fairbanks threw a 27-pitch first inning, allowing Ben Rice’s three-run homer that put New York ahead 3-1. He then left to catch a flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Tampa International Airport.
“Today being the last we’re going to have him for a few days, we knew we were going to pitch him today,” McCullough said.
Left-hander Andrew Nardi relieved for the bottom of the second and the right-handed Paddack entered in the third.
“Skipper told me early on when I got to the ballpark that there was going to be a little change in the game plan," Paddack said. “It was a little weird.”
Paddack allowed an unearned run and three hits over 4.2 innings while striking out four and walking four, rebounding from a loss to Colorado in his first start when he gave up eight runs over four innings.
“I actually threw my pregame bullpen there in the first inning," Paddack said. “It was a little longer inning than we were expecting out of Pete, so was able to sit down there in the second. And then once we started swinging the bat at the top of the third, I walked over and mentally right there, I said: `The switch is on. This is a start.'”
A 32-year-old right-hander, Fairbanks agreed to a $13 million, one-year contract with the Marlins in December after the Tampa Bay Rays declined an $11 million team option. He had 27 saves last year and has two for the Marlins, raising his total to 92 in eight major league seasons.
Fairbanks had last pitched on Tuesday and the start was just his third in 279 big league appearances, the first since he pitched 1.2 innings for Tampa Bay at the New York Mets.
After Fairbanks left the mound, catcher Liam Hicks didn't speak with the closer.
“I’m sure he wasn’t thrilled with how he did,” Hicks said. “He’s not really a guy you want to approach if he didn't do that well.”
