Pete Fairbanks picks up 15th save

That Fairbanks is a trade candidate didn’t stop the Marlins from using him for the fourth time in six days today. He’s pitched scoreless innings for saves in all four of those appearances, lowering his ERA from 7.18 to 6.37. The Marlins are off Monday, so they won’t have to worry about a closer then.

Fairbanks needed just seven pitches to finish the Mets off here. It’s been a trying season to this point for the veteran closer with a 6.55 ERA, but he’s gotten on a bit of a roll lately with four straight appearances without allowing a base runner. The Marlins have not wavered on him all season either, so maybe their confidence has been rewarded.

Fairbanks was as efficient as he’s been all year; throwing 8-of-9 pitches for strikes while whiffing a pair in a scoreless inning. That’s not quite the compliment he’d like, as the 32-year-old still has an ERA of 6.96 on the season because of some wretched results in the first three months of the campaign. Still, Fairbanks now has 14 saves on the season, and it seems unlikely he’s going to give up the closing gig as long as he’s a member of the Miami pitching staff.

Fairbanks was able to get one out, and he’s now blown three saves. He gave up a pair of hits and also a walk, and then with two of those runners on, Fairbanks left a pitch in a bad spot to William Contreras, and Contreras punished it. On top of those three blown saves, Fairbanks now has an ugly 7.42 ERA on the season. He doesn’t seem to be in danger of losing his closing gig, but fantasy managers need to look for a replacement if they’re still rostering him, this has been pretty ugly.

Fairbanks allowed one hit in the 14-pitch inning as the Marlins took it 2-0, elevating them to nine games over .500. It has been an up-and-down campaign for Fairbanks. While he’s pitched better than his 6.75 mark, it isn’t as if his ERA estimators suggest he’s been great. Still, he remains the closer for the Marlins with four games to go until the All-Star break.

Fairbanks had an earned run taken away because the scorekeeper determined it was a passed ball from Joe Mack that allowed the run to score. It was still an awful effort from Fairbanks, and it didn’t even come in a save situation, so there’s no benefit for those who roster the 32-year-old. He’s now allowed runs in four straight appearances, and his ERA has blown up to an ugly 6.84. It still seems likely that Fairbanks will get the save chances for Miami, but this is a situation worth monitoring.

Joc Pederson did get to Fairbanks for a leadoff home run, but he rebounded to retire Wyatt Langford, Josh Jung, and Brandon Nimmo in order to record his 12th save. Since coming off the injured list on May 16th, Fairbanks has a 4.50 ERA (3.34 SIERA) with a 1.29 WHIP and seven saves in 15 innings.

Fairbanks was summoned in the top of the ninth with a three-run lead to close out the game against the Giants. He shut the door on San Francisco, striking out the final two batters to secure the win for Miami and his 11th save of the season.

Fairbanks entered the game with a one-run lead and was able to retire all three batters he faced on just 17 pitches. It was a solid outing for the righty who entered the day having allowed three earned runs in just 4 2/3 innings of work on the month.

Fairbanks came on with a three-run advantage to protect in the ninth inning. He started out strong, striking out Spencer Horwitz and Brandon Lowe to start the inning before surrendering a solo homer to Bryan Reynolds. He then rebounded to get Ryan O’Hearn on a line drive to center to end it. For the season, the 32-year-old closer now sports a 6.75 ERA and 29/11 K/BB ratio over 20 innings of work while recording eight saves for the Marlins.