Marlins comeback falls just short against Mattingly's streaking Phillies

[Hector Rodriguez]

MIAMI — The Miami Marlins dropped their series opener to the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-5, in a ballgame that got very interesting at the end. The Phillies had a 6-1 lead in the eighth inning, but Miami scored four runs and were 180 feet away from tying the game in the bottom of the ninth. 

"We see with the group day in and day out, they will just continue to hang in there," Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said postgame. "We came up short, but I loved how we were able to finish that one off."

The Phillies remain undefeated with Don Mattingly as their interim manager. They have a perfect 4-0 record since Donnie Baseball took over for Rob Thomson, who was fired at the beginning of this week. That includes three straight one-run wins.

Right-handed pitcher Eury Pérez got the start and loss for the Marlins in the series opener. Pérez was pitching well through the game, but got into trouble in the top of the fourth. After giving up a single to Brandon Marsh and walking Bryson Stott, Pérez gave up back-to-back RBI hits to give Philadelphia the lead. Third baseman Alec Bohm tied the ballgame with an RBI single to center field and rookie outfielder Justin Crawford scored Stott with an RBI double.

Overall, Pérez threw five innings, allowing four hits, two runs, two walks, and six strikeouts. The 23-year-old Dominican right-hander now has a 2-3 record on the season.

"In general, I thought I had a good outing," Perez said after the loss. "My pitches were working very well, but they got aggressive, mostly on the first pitch and there was some damage." 

The Phillies would add to their lead in the top of the seventh with two outs. Facing newly recalled left-hander Cade Gibson, Edmundo Sosa hit a liner to center that scored Bryce Harper, making it 3-1. The final dagger would come from Stott's three-run home run to right field, breaking the game open 6-1.

After laboring in his 50-pitch outing, Gibson is already headed back down to Triple-A Jacksonville.

Right-handed relief pitcher Lake Bachar pitched very well in his 2 ⅓ innings of work, allowing no hits, no runs, no walks, and three strikeouts. He improves his ERA to 2.81 on the season.

At the plate, the Marlins got to Zack Wheeler early. In the bottom of the first, Xavier Edwards doubled down the right field line and drove in Otto Lopez, who had hit a ground-rule double the at-bat before.

They didn't have any answers for Wheeler after that, as he retired 15 of the last 16 batters he faced.

In the bottom of the eighth, Miami’s offense showed some fight and made it a much closer ballgame. Lopez drove in Jakob Marsee on an RBI single that deflected off Stott’s glove and rolled into shallow left field. Liam Hicks drove in Stowers on a sacrifice fly that was torched but directly at Adolis Garcia in right field. Agustin Ramirez kept the inning alive with a two-out RBI single through the right side that scored Lopez and made the game 6-4.

Connor Norby would enter the game as a pinch-hitter for Owen Caissie and delivered a double down the left field line. The Marlins had two runners in scoring position with the tying run 180 feet from home and the winning run at the plate. However, Christopher Morel watched three pitches go by and struck out without taking the bat off his shoulder.

After a 1-2-3 ninth inning from Bachar, the Marlins got an early baserunner with Javier Sanoja drawing a leadoff walk on four pitches. That was followed by back-to-back strikeouts of Jakob Marsee on a 3-2 check swing and Kyle Stowers on a borderline 3-2 pitch that grazed the outside corner. Stowers and McCullough were both ejected arguing the called third strike.

Lopez kept the game alive with an RBI single to RF. However, Edwards lined out to center, which ended the ballgame and prevented what would've been the biggest comeback of Miami's season.

 

What’s next?

The Marlins will look to even the series in game two of the four-game series. Right-handed pitcher Max Meyer will be on the mound for the Marlins. The former third overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft has pitched well this season. Meyer has posted a 1-0 record with a 3.30 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 9.9 K/9, a .207 opponent batting average, and a 128 ERA+.

The Phillies will hand the ball to veteran right-handed pitcher Aaron Nola. The former All-Star right-hander has struggled dating back to the 2025 season, including a 1-3 record so far in 2026 with a 6.03 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 10.1 K/9, and a .286 opponent batting average.

The first pitch for Saturday’s game is at 4:10 pm EST.

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[Shawn]

Why Gibson ever went back out in the 7th, after barely escaping the 6th was insane. I understand 2 lefties started the 7th but go to king or Nardi. Starting yelling at the tv when they left him in after hitting marsh to face Sosa with lake ready. Watching the management of this bullpen is painful to watch. 

[2qbn]

That at bat by Morel, considering the rally and position he was in, was the worst at bat I think I have ever seen in my life. What in the ever living eff was that? How was he able to look every guy in the dugout after that? Clayton has a tough call today in playing him. He might need to sit or that may have broken his psyche. The shock and horror on his face after SO was called was telling. 

[1993 fan from start]

Marlins had to much going on . To know baseball was being play..

305 ,miami , marlins, star wars ,to much talk about Don . 

now know tbd today wow.

[THOMAS JOSEPH]

1 hour ago, Shawn said:

Why Gibson ever went back out in the 7th, after barely escaping the 6th was insane. I understand 2 lefties started the 7th but go to king or Nardi. Starting yelling at the tv when they left him in after hitting marsh to face Sosa with lake ready. Watching the management of this bullpen is painful to watch. 

I agree.

[THOMAS JOSEPH]

McCullough pulls every starter like a robot, then flies in the face of obviousness with the bullpen. Quite interesting as it is puzzling. Perhaps his title should be Master Concierge and simply defer to an AI  program for all in-game decisions. Lol.

[One Regend]

I'm quite puzzled.

Pulling Eury Perez makes sense. Phillies hit a lot of home runs, and Eury Perez is very widely known for giving up too many home runs.

But to go to a guy who was literally just called up, with the game being a bloop and a blast away from the Marlins re-taking the lead? Really? Was there no guys in the bullpen with high-leverage experience they could've gone to?