HOUSTON (AP) — Miami rookie starter Braxton Garrett has been focused on building his confidence this season.
The 24-year-old’s performance Saturday against the powerful Houston Astros should help give him a boost in that department.
The Marlins got a solid start from Garrett and Jon Berti drove in two runs to help them extend their winning streak to five games with a 5-1 victory over the Astros.
Garrett (1-1) yielded six hits and an unearned run with five strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings for the win in his second start this season.
“I’ve really gotten better preparing and having a plan going in,” Garrett said. “I really think that’s helped me mentally. It just made me more confident because I just feel like I know what I’m doing. My delivery is in a really good spot right now to where I have a confidence to throw any pitch at any count.”
Manager Don Mattingly is impressed with how Garrett has grown this season.
“We’re seeing a kid that’s just maturing and getting more innings under his belt … he’s just getting to that point where he’s understanding how to use his weapons and just able to handle this better,” Mattingly said.
The Marlins scored three runs in the second inning with the help of a costly error by rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña.
Jesús Aguilar, who homered twice Friday night, singled to open the second inning and advanced to second on a groundout by Miguel Rojas. The error by Peña allowed Nick Fortes to reach and Aguilar to move to third.
Fortes stole second base before Willians Astudillo walked to load the bases. Framber Valdez then walked Bryan De La Cruz to put the Marlins up 1-0. Luke Williams then knocked a single into left field to send Fortes home.
The Marlins made it 3-0 when Astudillo scored on a…
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