Marlins Fall to Pirates 4-3 in Gillispie’s Debut

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Miami, Florida—The Miami Marlins were swimming upstream and riding high after their come-from-behind Opening Day walk-off win against the Pittsburgh Pirates. They had little time to celebrate the victory as they were back out today for game two of a four-game series.

There were a lot of “firsts” for Miami and its young roster on Opening Day, including Manager Clayton McCullough earning his first MLB win at the helm. In game two against the Buccos, there were more “firsts” with starting pitcher Connor Gillispie and catcher, Liam Hicks, making their Marlins debut.

Just in time for first pitch between the #Marlins and #Pirates
Connor Gillispie is on the mound making his debut for Miami as they look to take a 2-0 series lead after walking off on Opening Day @LemonCityLive pic.twitter.com/irji0XjBIy

— Alex “Milo” Aguirre (@aguirrethecap33) March 28, 2025

Introducing Connor Gillispie

Connor Gillispie cracked the 26-man roster after a solid Spring Training with Miami and was punched in as their No. 2 starter in the rotation behind Sandy Alcantara. He was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in 2019 and was in their minor league system until 2023, spending the 2024 campaign with the Cleveland Guardians. He made his MLB debut last season and had success, but in a limited sample. In three appearances, Gillispie threw eight innings, striking out eight with a 2.25 ERA.

Connor Gillispie saw minimal action with the Cleveland Guardians in 2024 with the big league team.

MLB: 2.25 ERA, 3.04 FIP, 9.00 K/9 and 5.63 BB/9 through 8.0 IP

AAA: 4.05 ERA, 5.42 FIP, 9.45 K/9 and 3.81 BB/9 through 113.1 IP#Marlins pic.twitter.com/PC1uU9oBkj

— Kevin Barral (@kevin_barral) January 28, 2025

The one significant stat that stood out in his short MLB stint was his walks and losing command of the strike zone, walking five batters. The lack of command was something to look out for in his outing today, walking four batters, and played a major factor in Pittsburgh’s win. On the flip side, Gillispie has shown the ability to limit the damage and avoid big innings, which also occurred today, only surrendering four hits and two earned runs in his eight-inning stint with Cleveland.

The 27-year-old right-hander was off to a great start in his Marlins debut. He kept the Pirates off the scoreboard through the first three innings, recording two strikeouts on 42 pitches, and only surrendered one hit and issued one walk.

“First major league start, I think in a lot of ways he did very well, said Clayton McCullough after the game. He really did. He threw the ball great, Cruz is a tough hitter, and turned on one. Got us through five innings, kept us in the ballgame.”

Connor Gillispie, Wicked 81mph Slider…and Sword. ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/FIACc5Lhmi

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 28, 2025

Control and Sloppy Defense Hurt Gillispie’s Outing

The Pirates finally broke through against Gillispie in the top of the fourth. His control issues would appear in this frame, but Miami’s defense did not do their part in supporting him either.

Oneil Cruz led off the inning with a walk and stole second base, then advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Liam Hicks. Joey Bart followed that up by drawing a walk to give Pittsburgh runners on first and third with no outs.

Next in the Pirates’ lineup was one of the most iconic players in their franchise, Andrew McCutchen. The 5-time All-Star and 2013 National League MVP doubled to left-center field, bringing in Cruz for the Pirates’ first run of the game. Ke’Bryan Hayes kept the lineup moving, loading the bases with an infield single. Endy Rodriguez was the first out of the inning, flying out to shallow left field.

Andrew McCutchen comes through 🚀

An RBI double puts the @Pirates on the board! pic.twitter.com/SLOFSjEUjy

— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) March 29, 2025

Gillispie recorded the second out of the inning, getting Adam Frazier to fly out to shallow right field, but a defensive miscue led to Pittsburgh scoring their second run. Joey Bart was on third base and caught Miami’s defense by surprise when he tagged up on Frazier’s flyout. Marlins right fielder, Griffin Conine, made an accurate throw home, but first baseman Matt Mervis cut the throw home, helping Bart score easily without a play at the plate. Errors and defensive miscues hurt Miami and Gillispie’s outing, and they ultimately ended the game with four errors.

Tale of two flyouts:
-Kyle Stowers caught and threw a ball home at 90 MPH to prevent Joey Bart from trying to score from 3B
-Next at-bat, Griffin Conine does the same from RF. Bart ran this time, and Matt Mervis made an ill-advised cutoff instead of letting the throw get home.

— Alex Krutchik (@AlexKrutchikFOF) March 29, 2025

Oneil Cruz: One Man Wrecking Crew Against Gillispie

Gillispie escaped further damage in the top of the fourth, getting Isiah Kiner-Falefa to fly out to end the inning. He was able to avoid a big inning and rally by Pittsburgh, limiting them to just two runs when they initially had the bases loaded with no outs.

Pittsburgh’s lineup was flipped over once again to the top of the lineup to start the top of the fifth, which meant Gillispie was going to face Oneil Cruz for the third time. Tommy Pham led off the inning, reaching base on a fielding error by third baseman Graham Pauley. Gillispie struck out Bryan Reynolds for the first out, and up came Cruz. On a 0-1 count, Cruz launched a missile off his bat at 115 mph over the right field wall. Cruz doubled the Pirates’ lead to 4-0 with one swing. Gillispie recorded the last two outs to complete the fifth inning, and that was it for his Marlins debut. His final was five innings pitched, four hits allowed, four runs (three earned), four strikeouts, and four walks.

“I mean, he’s Oneil Cruz, you know, all those players you’ve got to pitch around a little bit, said Gillispie after the game. You know he’s going to do damage.”

115 MPH on Oneil Cruz's first home run of the season! pic.twitter.com/NJ3j47yCOj

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 29, 2025

No Comeback Magic Tonight

It was a quiet day on offense for Miami, unable to string together hits against Pittsburgh’s starter, Mitch Keller. Miami’s lone run off the right-hander came in the bottom of the fifth. Third baseman Graham Pauley lined a two-out RBI double down the right field line, bringing in Derek Hill. Hill reached base on an infield single to third base, but was initially called out. Clayton McCullough challenged the play and was successful in overturning the call.

Graham Pauley rips an RBI double for his first @Marlins RBI. pic.twitter.com/L2DXw5cc1U

— Marlins Radio Network (@MarlinsRadio) March 29, 2025

Keller threw a scoreless sixth inning to complete his outing and handed it over to the bullpen. Pittsburgh’s bullpen kept Miami off the scoreboard in the seventh and eighth inning and brought in their two-time All-Star closer, David Bednar. Bednar was the losing pitcher the night before, allowing Miami to walk off when he entered the ninth inning in a 4-4 game.

#Marlins second baseman Otto Lopez talks about his home run in the bottom of the 9th and the “never give up” mentality this team has almost completing another comeback in back to back games. @LemonCityLive pic.twitter.com/dkpde55egO

— Alex “Milo” Aguirre (@aguirrethecap33) March 29, 2025

Entering the game leading 4-1, Bednar had some room for error, and he definitely needed it. Matt Mervis led off the inning by drawing a walk. Otto Lopez followed that up by blasting a two-run home run to left-center field, the first for the Marlins in 2025. All of a sudden, it became a one-run ballgame, but there will be no walk-off heroics tonight. Bednar settled in and retired Dane Myers and Liam Hicks on groundouts and then struck out Derek Hill to give Pittsburgh their first win of the season.

Otto Lopez launches his first HR of the season! pic.twitter.com/2EX88eKnh6

— Marlins Radio Network (@MarlinsRadio) March 29, 2025

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