What's trending up for Marlins after series win in Philly?

PHILADELPHIA -- Two days ago, the Marlins found themselves down by double digits in a game in which they started their reigning National League Cy Young Award winner. Phillies co-aces Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler were lined up for the final two matchups of the series at Citizens Bank Park.

Rather than sulk, Miami rebounded to win the next two, securing the series victory with a 3-2 comeback victory in 10 innings on Wednesday. The Marlins finished their first road trip with a 3-3 record against the Mets and Phillies -- two clubs expected to make the postseason.

“I just think that they're starting to believe that they can play with anybody,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “There’s a lot of good guys in there that have won before, and guys are learning how to win. Having guys like [Jorge Soler] and I keep saying Yuli [Gurriel] -- but it's real, and just teaching the guys the right way how to win. And [Jean] Segura as well. Up and down the lineup, the young guys [are] starting to gain more confidence and then the big boys [are] producing.”

Here are three things trending up.

Is Cabrera turning the corner?
Right-hander Edward Cabrera entered Wednesday with a MLB-high 13 walks over 6 2/3 innings through two starts.

Cabrera, who turns 25 on Thursday, issued just one free pass and allowed two runs across five frames. His go-to pitch was his curveball, which he threw 39 percent of the time -- a career high through 24 MLB starts.

Cabrera’s performance garnered a hug from pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr., who offered encouraging words following the 82-pitch outing. A turnaround from Cabrera, who compiled a 3.01 ERA in 14 starts in 2022, is crucial to the club’s success.

“He told me that’s me,” Cabrera said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. “‘That's you right there.’ The one that he saw there, that's the one that he normally used to see, and just to keep working hard and be me.”

Are the bats finding their groove?
Luis Arraez, who hit for the first cycle in franchise history on Tuesday, is batting .500 -- one of five qualified hitters in the Wild Card Era with an average that high through a team’s first 13 games of the season.

Arraez’s energy appears to be rubbing off on the others. After scoring only 20 runs through their first nine games, the Marlins have tallied 21 runs in their past four.

Soler homered for the fourth time in 12 games, blasting a game-tying shot in the eighth off José Alvarado's 99.9 mph fastball. It marked the second-fastest pitch he has taken deep in his career.

“This means a lot to me and means a lot for the team, because I can help in the way I can,” Soler said via Dorante. “I've been looking for that consistency. Sometimes [you] don't get the results you want, and that's why we're looking for that consistency. But I'm very happy to help the team.”

In the 10th, with the automatic runner at second, Arraez struck out for the first time in five games. Bryan De La Cruz bailed him out with an RBI single to right, though he was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.

De La Cruz’s at-bat exemplified the growth and maturation that Schumaker alluded to. Miami believed his production (1.137 OPS) over the final 25 games in 2022 wasn’t a fluke.

“I was just going for the two-strike approach,” De La Cruz said via Dorante. “Yesterday, they threw me a fastball. I said, ‘I'm not going to hit it if I just go with a normal swing.’ So I was just looking for that two-strike approach and trying to get the hit.”

What a relief?
When the Marlins lost leverage arm JT Chargois to the injured list at the start of the series, Schumaker said others would have to step up. Huascar Brazoban (two innings on Tuesday) and Dylan Floro (back-to-back scoreless appearances) have done so.

On Wednesday, four relievers combined for five scoreless frames. A.J. Puk, whom the club acquired right before Spring Training, shut down the Phillies in the ninth and 10th for his first multi-inning outing of 2023.

“The bullpen did a great job today,” said Puk, who has finished all four games he has appeared in this season. “The offense got us back in the game there and then the bullpen held it down. It was a good team effort, and it was a fun one.”