Brandon Williamson Bounces Back: Instant Takeaways From Reds' 2-0 Win Over Marlins

Brandon Williamson and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Miami Marlins 2-0 in the the first game of a four-game set on Monday. Williamson dazzled for the Reds and got the best of Marlins starter Janson Junk.

Williamson tossed 6 2/3 shutout innings. Junk almost kept pace, holding the Reds to seven hits and two earned runs over 7 1/3 innings.

The Reds got on the board in the top of the fourth inning after Elly De La Cruz scored on a single by Sal Stewart. De La Cruz reached on a rocket hustle double a few pitches before. The Reds would hold this 1-0 lead until Tyler Stephenson extended it to a two-run lead with a solo homer in the eighth inning.

Brock Burke, Tony Santillan, and Emilio Pagan would toss 2 1/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen to complete the shutout. It's the Reds' fourth consecutive victory. They improve to 7-3 on the season. The Reds have three shutout victories in 10 games/

Here are our takeaways from Monday's victory over the Marlins:

Instant Takeaways

Apr 6, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Brandon Williamson (55) holds a baseball against the Miami Marlins during the fourth inning at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

TJ Friedl might be turning the corner at the plate

Friedl has been under the microscope a lot this season. He's struggled as much as any player in the league over the first few weeks of the season. He recorded a hit on Sunday, which was only his third hit of the season. On Monday, he led the game off with another hit before working a long at-bat in his second trip to the plate, though it ended with a pop out. Friedl looked better at the plate, doing a better job at working counts and putting the bat on the ball. This isn't to say he's back to his best form. He struck out in an uncompetitive third at bat, but he looks better than he did for the last week or so.

Friedl also laid down a bunt hit in the eighth inning to post his first multi-hit game of the season.

Brandon Williamson bounced back in a huge way

There were a lot of question marks surrounding Williamson heading into Monday's game. He was tagged for six hits, three home runs, and six earned runs across 4 2/3 innings in his first start of the season. But he bounced back in a huge way against the Marlins.

Williamson tossed 6 2/3 innings before giving way to Brock Burke for the final out of the seventh inning. Williamson would finish the game with three hits allowed, one walk issued, and four strikeouts across 6 2/3 scoreless innings. Better yet, he looked good. He was commanding his pitches very well. The lefty was able to generate a lot of soft contact, which is a good sign of things to come. He generated an incredible 64.3 percent whiff rate on his changeup. That's very, very good.

Reds bullpen was lights out in the win

Following Williamson's magnificent start, the Reds turned to Burke with a runner on and two outs in the seventh inning. Burke would strike out Xavier Edwards to strand the runner and preserve the Reds lead.

Santillan and Pagan tossed two scoreless innings to hold the lead and secure the shutout. Both righties looked excellent in their respective roles. It marked Burkes first hold, Santillan's fourth hold, and Pagan's fourth save of the young season.

The Reds' bullpen is already proving to be a big strength of the team.

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