WASHINGTON -- Roughly an hour before the Marlins collected their 5-2 win over the Nationals on Saturday at Nationals Park, the team learned it would be without right-hander Edward Cabrera for at least the immediate future. The Marlins hope Cabrera’s shoulder impingement isn’t a major issue, but right now, losing the righty for any amount of time counts as a blow to a rotation already straining its depth, with Trevor Rogers and Johnny Cueto also on the injured list.

It’s a hole in the rotation without an obvious plug, and if Cabrera were to miss any more time than expected, it would be a semi-serious problem for a Marlins team that’s off to the second-best 71-game start in franchise history. Rogers and Cueto’s returns are not imminent, and the Marlins only have one off-day remaining in the roughly three weeks until the All-Star break. In short, they need five starters. This development leaves them with four.

All of which makes the way Braxton Garrett followed the news all the more impactful for the team. Adding to what’s growing into a string of strong starts, Garrett largely cruised through six innings of one-run ball, striking out eight and retiring nine straight at one point. The Marlins rewarded him by staging two multi-run rallies in the late innings, finishing the day nine games over .500 for the first time since July 31, 2016.

“Your depth is going to be tested,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “You're gonna need eight or nine starters every season. Very rarely do you get five starters the whole year. So for him to step up like he has, this year, it feels like he's taking that next step. I just feel like every start he just grows.”

The Marlins’ longman coming out of Spring Training, the 25-year-old Garrett appears to be developing into a reliable rotation piece in real time. Saturday’s effort gave him a 2.13 ERA and 49-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his past seven starts, dating back to May 14. He’s held opponents to two earned runs or fewer in six of those seven starts.

“Today, that two-seam was just so good,” Schumaker said. “The cutter has opened up really every pitch for him. And the slider today, for me, was the wipeout pitch. He gets a lot of tickets, a lot of punchouts. He can throw any pitch at any time, and did it again today. It's just been impressive to watch.”

Garrett’s season numbers don’t relay how well he’s pitching right now, or how well he’s pitched lately. No matter what else happens, his season line will always include one disastrous blip -- an 11-run outing against the Braves on May 3. Take that away, and his numbers are sparkling: a 2.62 ERA in 13 starts and one relief appearance. Dating back to last season, he’s pitched to a 3.71 ERA and a 167-38 strikeout-to-walk ratio across 31 appearances (30 starts).

“We put him through a lot those first couple of weeks,” Schumaker said. “After that one start in Atlanta, he has been as good as anybody in our rotation.”

And as a result, those contributions have buttressed it. It’s on the strength of their pitching that the 40-31 Marlins are one of the NL’s best first-half surprises: They are winners of 15 of their last 20 games, own the Majors’ best record since May 26 and have an MLB-best 18-5 record in one-run games. Their staff has allowed the fourth-fewest runs and has the fourth-most strikeouts in MLB in that span (as of Saturday’s final out). Yet half of their ostensible rotation is sidelined and their ace, reigning NL Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara, sports a 4.97 ERA.

This is the paradox the Marlins aren’t just living, but are thriving in. How? One reason is the rest of the rotation: Garrett, the solid Jesús Luzardo and dazzling rookie Eury Pérez. Another is the bullpen, where Stephen Okert (1.93 ERA) Tanner Scott (1 ER, 26 SO past 16 2/3 IP) and A.J. Puk (9-for-10 in save chances) are emerging as a three-headed left-handed monster. The Marlins are also taking care of business when they need to, improving Saturday to 11-0 this season against the Nationals, Oakland and Royals. 

“Playing winning baseball is freaking awesome,” Garrett said. “It's fun being in the dugout. It's just a fun team to be around all the time. Obviously, winning cures all and we're finally getting a good taste of it.”