Cabrera K's 10 in second straight gem vs. Braves -- this month!

MIAMI -- Edward Cabrera has had the Braves’ number as of late.

After turning in perhaps his best outing of the year -- with season highs in K's (11), pitches (109) and innings (8) -- in a 5-1 win at Atlanta on August 8, “Cabby” dominated the Braves again in Monday night’s 2-1 win at loanDepot park.

It’s hard to one-up a performance that had so many personal bests, but Cabrera very well may have outdone himself Monday. The 6-foot-5 righty nearly matched his strikeouts total from the aforementioned game, striking out 10 while allowing just three baserunners in seven innings of one-hit ball.

The Marlins scored their first run in the fifth via an RBI double from Troy Johnston, and took a 2-0 lead in the eighth when Maximo Acosta homered to center.

With the HR, Acosta became just the fifth player in the last 10 years to homer for his first three career hits, per Elias.

Meanwhile, Miami became the first team since 2023 to have a single, double, triple and home run account for all four of its hits. It's the 118th instance of the rare feat in league history, while Miami has done so three times (2008 and 2013), with this being the first time they did it in a win.

But it was Cabrera’s brilliance that reigned supreme, and his pulverizing performance proved to be the biggest factor in the Fish’s series-opening win.

“Cabby’s had a lot of really good starts this year,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “This one for me was right up there. The 10 strikeouts, the swing-and-miss he had tonight, his changeup was outstanding. … I mean … it felt like he was in control, really from the outset of this outing.

“You could tell that he had his stuff going. … And we needed that. The last couple days have been taxing on our entire pitching staff, with 12 innings [Saturday against Toronto] and yesterday, so we needed that kind of start today, and he matched [Spencer] Strider the whole way. … Just a phenomenal start.”

The outing marked a shift back in the right direction for Cabrera, who’s had moments this season in which he looked unhittable. Those include a six-inning, two-hit masterclass as part of Miami's sweep of the Yankees on August 3, and seven scoreless innings against Minnesota on July 1.

But he’s been less effective in his last two starts, giving up a combined nine runs on 18 hits in 9 2/3 innings.

“Thank God,” Cabrera said postgame. “I don’t like to stay on the negative side, or a negative experience. … All you have to do is learn from it, get better … and get ready for the next one.”

McCullough noted Cabrera’s ability to locate his secondary pitches.

“I think he just was accessing the zone more frequently early on,” the Miami skipper said. “And every opponent we face … knows the type of stuff that Cabby has. [He was] able to land multiple pitches in the strike zone … the sinker and the changeup combination, he threw some good four-seamers at the top, and his curveball and slider.

“When he’s able to get into the count early, and grab count leverage, get hitters engaged in the at-bats, it just opens up his ability to expand off of that. … The stuff has never been in question, I think what he’s been able to put together is just much more of a consistent attack in the zone.”

That stuff includes his vibrant changeup, which got up to 97 mph on Monday.

“Some of them, from the side, you don’t know what they are, and I almost have to ask [pitching coach] Daniel [Moskos], ‘Was that really a changeup?’” McCullough said.

“The action of the pitch moving in on the righties, it plays like … a really impressive two-seam fastball. … The unpredictable movement, with the velocity that he throws it at, hitters are going to have to respect it.”

Cabrera revealed that a shift in mindset has allowed him to use his mix with no restraint.

“Throw every pitch,” Cabrera affirmed, “one at a time with no fear. And just trusting yourself. Once you start feeling that fear that you cannot throw -- or are not gonna land a strike early in the count, it starts to affect you.

“In the past, I was always overthinking too much … and that was affecting my performance. Now I just try to throw one pitch at a time, making sure I’m throwing strikes and getting that batter.”

“This version of Cabby,” McCullough said, “I think a lot of people have dreamt on.”