Miami

Justin Nicolino Shines in Debut for Marlins

Justin Nicolino was backed in his major league debut by a pair of Derek Dietrich home runs

Justin Nicolino made a great first impression as the Miami Marlins prospect pitched his team to a 5-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday.

Nicolino is considered Miami's top pitching prospect and had dazzled at the Triple-A level this year. With Tom Koehler unable to pitch due to a sore neck, the Marlins promoted Nicolino for the spot start. With an opportunity to impress, Nicolino did just that and may have earned another start.

Nicolino who is 23 years old gave the Marlins seven shutout innings. The lefty only allowed four hits while walking an additional two. In his minor league career, Nicolino was not known for striking many batters out and that continued in his major league debut. Nicolino only struck two hitters out, but still kept the opposition off balance for most of the game.

Carter Capps and A.J. Ramos worked the last two innings to get some work in. Capps has quickly cemented himself as one of the best setup men in MLB. Ramos has also excelled since becoming Miami's closer and has an E.R.A of 1.38 on the year now.

Derek Dietrich helped Nicolino out in a big way with two home runs. The infielder now has three home runs despite only being in the big leagues for about a week. Dietrich has seen time at third base since Martin Prado was lost to the disabled list.

Miami only has three doubles in the game with one each coming from Christian Yelich (5), J.T. Realmuto (9), and  Dee Gordon (14). Two of those two-base hits came off of Anthony DeSclafani who started for the Reds. DeSclafani was traded by the Marlins in the off-season for Mat Latos.

The Marlins can pick up a series win when David Phelps gets the start on Sunday.

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