Marlins Dismantle Pirates Behind Junk’s Dominance, Conine’s Power

The Miami Marlins sent the Pittsburgh Pirates packing Wednesday night at loanDepot park, methodically dismantling Carmen Mlodzinski and the visitors’ bullpen en route to an 8-2 laugher that felt far less competitive than the final score might suggest. This wasn’t a narrow escape or a thrilling back-and-forth affair. This was a team playing its best baseball against an opponent that simply couldn’t get out of its own way.

Junk Dominates From the Start

Janson Junk deserves top billing here. The Marlins’ starter was absolutely surgical over six innings, allowing just four hits and one earned run while striking out two. He didn’t blow anyone away with overwhelming stuff, but he was efficient, precise, and damn near impossible to work with. Meanwhile, Mlodzinski? He was a disaster. Two and one-third innings, five hits, four earned runs, and three walks before the Pirates mercifully yanked him. That’s not a recipe for success in any league at any level. You can’t go into a division matchup and have your starter crater in the third inning. Period.

The Marlins pounced early and often. A five-run third inning essentially decided this game before most fans finished their nachos. Agustín Ramírez doubled in a run. Leo Jiménez got hit by pitch with the bases loaded, forcing in another. Joe Mack drew a bases-loaded walk, and Xavier Edwards delivered the cherry on top with a sacrifice fly. It was ugly, it was efficient, and it was devastating. This is what happens when you put traffic on the basepaths against mediocre pitching.

Conine and Hernández Deliver the Exclamation Points

Griffin Conine went 2-for-2 with a home run and has clearly found his stroke. His solo blast in the fourth put the Marlins up 5-1 and essentially put the game into cruise control territory. Heriberto Hernández followed suit with a two-run dinger in the sixth that extended Miami’s advantage and had the home crowd thinking about postgame celebrations rather than nail-biters. These are the kind of at-bats that separate contenders from pretenders down the stretch.

The Pirates managed exactly two runs, both in the form of a fourth-inning sacrifice fly by Esmerlyn Valdez. Nick Gonzales crossed the plate on that play, giving Pittsburgh its sole source of offense aside from a garbage-time contribution. For a team that presumably came to Florida hoping to make waves, this performance was an absolute capitulation. No rhythm, no momentum, no hope.

The Marlins’ bullpen locked things down from there, with Victor Vodnik closing out the proceedings in the ninth. This was a complete, convincing victory from top to bottom. Junk pitched like an ace. Conine swung like a man possessed. Hernández added unexpected pop. And Pittsburgh? They might as well have taken the bus back to the Steel City at the first pitch.

Wednesday night belonged entirely to Miami. The question now is whether the Marlins can sustain this level of play going forward, because if they can, they’re going to be a serious problem in this division.