Marlins showing resilience in opening series vs. Pirates

After rallying multiple times on Saturday and earning their second walk-off win in three games, the Miami Marlins will attempt to secure their first series win of the season Sunday afternoon when they host the Pittsburgh Pirates in the finale of a four-game set.

Last season, the Marlins lost their first nine games and took 13 games to get a second victory and 15 games to reach three wins.

Miami earned a 5-4 victory on Saturday when Dane Myers hit a walk-off single in the 12th inning off Tim Mayza, Pittsburgh's sixth pitcher of the day. Myers notched his hit after making a key defensive play in right field by throwing out Tommy Pham at the plate on a single by Bryan Reynolds in the top of the 12th.

"It's pretty surreal," Myers, 29, said in his post-game radio interview. "Hitting a walk-off in the big leagues is cool. It's a privilege to be playing at this level and something like that is pretty special."

Myers had three hits Saturday and also scored on a tying double by Derek Hill in the sixth. That double led to one of four times the Marlins tied the game.

In the season opener on Thursday, the Marlins overcame a two-run deficit by scoring three times in the final two innings and earning a 5-4 win on a walk-off single by Kyle Stowers, who collected three hits Saturday.

While the Marlins are showing an ability to come back, the Pirates are struggling with mistakes and the lack of clutch hitting.

A defensive misplay by Oneil Cruz on a single by Jonah Bride preceded Myers' game-winning hit, and the Pirates were 3-for-18 with runners in scoring position and could not capitalize on six stolen bases.

"Our outfield defense has to improve," manager Derek Shelton said. "We've seen that over the first couple games, first three games."

Pittsburgh was 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position when it blew a two-run lead in the late innings Thursday and is 7-for-35 with runners in scoring position so far, including the Pirates' 4-3 win on Friday.

Saturday, Cruz walked four times and stole two bases while Joey Bart had three of Pittsburgh's nine hits.

Right-hander Max Meyer will begin what the Marlins hope is their 2020 first-round draft pick's first full season. He made two starts and threw six innings in 2022 before undergoing Tommy John surgery and made three starts in April 2024 before getting sent back to the minors to monitor his workload.

Meyer returned and made eight more starts but posted a 7.20 ERA in that span and was shut down in September with bursitis in his right shoulder. He finished 3-5 with a 5.68 ERA.

He has never faced the Pirates.

Andrew Heaney will debut for his sixth team after signing a one-year deal with the Pirates on Feb. 22. The left-hander spent the past two seasons with the Texas Rangers and was 15-20 with a 4.22 ERA in 66 appearances (59 starts). He went 5-14 with a 4.28 ERA last season.

Heaney was Miami's first-round pick in 2012 and was 0-3 with a 5.83 ERA in seven games (five starts) for the Marlins in 2014 before getting traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who immediately traded him to the Los Angeles Angels in December 2014.

The left-hander is 2-0 in two scoreless starts, totaling 11 2/3 innings against the Marlins.

--Field Level Media