Heriberto Hernandez and Joe Mack each hit solo home runs and Max Meyer outdueled Paul Skenes as the visiting Miami Marlins earned a 4-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday.
Meyer (7-0) yielded one run on six hits, walked three and fanned nine over six innings.
Pete Fairbanks gave up a run but struck out two to pick up his ninth save of the season. Liam Hicks added two hits and a run as the Marlins won the three-game series.
Skenes (6-6) allowed two runs on four hits with one walk and 10 strikeouts. The reigning National League Cy Young winner struck out the side in the fourth and sixth, but the Pirates lost his sixth straight start.
Bryan Reynolds went 2-for-3 with a home run and Nick Gonzales and Jake Mangum each had two hits for Pittsburgh.
The Marlins took a 2-0 lead in the second on a pair of home runs. Hernandez sent a fastball to deep left-center to lead off the inning, then with two outs, Mack hit a 424-foot shot to straightaway center.
With two outs in the second, Mangum reached on an infield single in the hole at shortstop and Jared Triolo followed with a chopper up the middle for a hit. But Meyer struck out Henry Davis to end the Pirates’ threat.
Pittsburgh opened the fourth with three straight singles. Gonzales snuck a bloop single inside the right field line and Tyler Callihan hit a sweeper off the end of the bat between shortstop and third. Mangum’s soft liner into left scored Gonzales, cutting the Pirates’ deficit to 2-1.
After the Pirates loaded the bases in the fifth, Jakob Marsee made a diving catch on Mangum’s sinking line drive into right-center to end the inning.
The Miami defense continued to shine in the sixth, as Meyer struck out Spencer Horwitz before Mack threw out Davis trying to steal second for an inning-ending double play.
In the eighth, Hicks and Otto Lopez notched consecutive one-out singles. Kyle Stowers followed with an RBI single to drive in Hicks for a 3-1 lead. Xavier Edwards knocked in Stowers with a line drive to center for a 4-1 advantage.
Reynolds hit a solo homer with two outs in the ninth.
–Field Level Media
