Weathers strikes out career-high 11, but offense shut out again

MIAMI -- Marlins left-hander Ryan Weathers was so dominant in May that zeros on the scoreboard had become the norm.

While Weathers saw his stretch of five consecutive quality starts come to an end in a 7-0 loss to the Rangers at loanDepot park, he recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts and 21 whiffs, the most by any Major League pitcher on Saturday.

“I'll take that version of Ryan every day of the week,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said.

Weathers allowed four earned runs -- all of which came in the third and fourth -- in a six-inning outing. Seven of his season-high nine hits permitted were in that span. Just two went for extra bases.

One of those was Robbie Grossman’s RBI double in the third that followed singles by Andrew Knizner and Corey Seager. Grossman connected on a sweeper down and in. With the infield drawn in, Adolis García followed with a sacrifice fly on a 96.4 mph four-seamer up and away. Neither pitch was in the strike zone.

“I thought he was a really good pitcher,” Grossman said. “Even from last year when we saw him, he’s evolved a little bit. He’s going to be a good pitcher for a long time.”

Last season, Weathers made his Marlins debut in Texas and it did not go well. In 3 2/3 relief innings, he surrendered a season-high-tying six runs and walked four batters.

But Weathers is a different pitcher in 2024, especially since May. Weathers issued five total free passes over 33 frames last month. He gave up just seven earned runs for a 1.91 ERA.

“Weathers has great stuff,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “He has a big fastball, a good changeup, slider. We just had some really good at-bats.”

That changeup was especially effective, as Weathers used it 37 percent of the time, his second-highest usage in 2024. Only one hit came on the pitch, compared to four on the sinker, three on the four-seamer and Grossman’s double on the sweeper.

“We kind of used it a lot the first time through the order, and then the second time through they didn't really change their approach,” Weathers said. “And then the third time they still weren't changing their approach, so it was working tonight, so we just kind of used it more.”

The 24-year-old Weathers kept the Rangers on the ground, but he experienced some tough luck. According to Gameday, he recorded four groundouts but also permitted five ground-ball hits and a bunt single.

Wyatt Langford and Josh Smith opened the fourth with singles, with a run scoring on an errant throw from right fielder Jesús Sánchez. Leody Taveras then grounded out, Knizner produced a sac fly and Marcus Semien singled. Following a mound visit from pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr., Seager jumped Weathers' first-pitch sinker for a double and Grossman grounded out to end the threat with two runners in scoring position.

“I still felt like my pitches were really good,” Weathers said. “They were still quality pitches. Honestly tonight, I was in the zone probably more than [I should be] against a team that's as aggressive as they are. It's better to kind of be a little edged off, and I think some of my pitches were still edgy, and they were just hitting some ground balls that got through the hole.”

Despite the Rangers’ early-season struggles, it’s only a matter of time until their potent lineup awakens from their World Series hangover. It didn’t slug against Weathers, whose outing doesn’t take away from either his progress or how good his season has been so far. There’s only so much that can be done when the Marlins are shut out for the second time in a week.

“He's been good all year,” Schumaker said. “He had a couple of starts I think that he was not great in, but he's human. He's going to have those starts out of 30-plus starts. He's doing excellent. He's grown every single game. He has been as good as anybody on our staff, and once again did another outstanding job tonight. It's tough to win when you don't score. We didn't score, and that's kind of the story of the game.”