Marlins clinch best month in franchise history

[Kevin Barral]

The best month in Miami Marlins franchise history is over, but at least it ended in style. The Marlins offense set new season highs in runs scored and hits in their 14-3 win over the Colorado Rockies. It was their 20th win in the month of June.

"Winning 20 games in a month is a hard thing to do," Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. "Great way to finish out the month. We certainly have a lot of work ahead of us, but to continue to play well in a lot of facets is what's led to this. Offensively tonight how good we were, and being able to score early and tack on and hit with runners in scoring position. Really good finish this month, and we will turn the page and have to start a new one tomorrow."

This marked the club's highest winning percentage (.769) and the best run differential (+53) in a single month.

One of the many reasons for the Marlins' month-long success was their offense. Going into Tuesday, the Marlins had a 110 wRC+, which is 10th in baseball and ninth in OPS (.773).

Even on a night where shortstop Otto Lopez was out of the Marlins lineup, they put up 14 runs on 21 hits. It is the first time this season that the Marlins have scored 10-plus runs in back-to-back games, most recently done in 2023 against the Atlanta Braves when they scored 11 runs in the first game and 16 in the second.

It's the 20th time in franchise history that the Marlins have 20 or more hits in a single game. It's also the first 20-hit game since 2022 which happened to be against the Rockies in Coors Field.

Griffin Conine led the way with a four-hit night, driving in the first run of the ballgame on an RBI double. He knocked in an RBI single in the top of the sixth inning, making it 7-1. Conine finished the game with a four-hit performance, the first of his career. Conine is now slashing .286/.364/.531/.783 with three home runs, 10 RBI and a 146 wRC+ this season.

Xavier Edwards also had a four-hit night, the first for him this season and sixth of his career. He finished June on a nine-game hit streak.

Joe Mack made it 10-1 in the top of the seventh. Mack's home run, which went 450 feet into the second deck in right field. Mack, who got off to a slow start to begin his MLB career, is now slashing .294/.360/.544/.904 with five home runs and 15 RBI in June.

Owen Caissie became the second Marlin to reach double-digit homers, hitting his 10th of the season in the top of the eighth inning. A three-run shot went 453 feet is the longest home run hit by a Marlin this season, surpassing Mack, who held that record for about 45 minutes. After a June where Caissie had an .865 OPS, he is slashing .239/.299/.444/.743 overall with 10 home runs, 46 RBI and a 100 wRC+.

In his return from the injured list, Liam Hicks had a multi-hit performance, extending his hit streak to 11 games. Graham Pauley was optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville to reinstate Hicks off the IL.

In his second start off the injured list, Marlins starting pitcher Eury Pérez went 5 1/3 innings, allowing one run on two hits (one home run), walked four and struck out eight. The home run he allowed was to Mickey Moniak in the bottom of the first inning.

All eight of Pérez's strikeouts were swinging. His sweeper, which he threw 26% of the time, generated seven total whiffs and used it to strike out three. His fastball topped out at 99.9 mph and averaged 97.7 mph. He struck four out with that pitch.

"Had a great fastball, and some of the pitches are just not going to react like they do here, but he spun some good breaking balls and I thought he filled up the zone really very well," McCullough said. "He ran out of gas a little bit there at the end, but as far as the second time getting back up and being able to get the pitch count into a good place in the up, I think he's in a really great spot."

With the win, the Marlins improve to 46-40 on the season and remain virtually tied with the St. Louis Cardinals for the third National League Wild Card spot. Max Meyer will put his perfect 9-0 record on the line Wednesday night as the Fish look for their fourth straight series win.

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