Aggressive baserunning costs Marlins in another close loss

[Kevin Barral]

MIAMI, FL — With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Miami Marlins find themselves trailing 4-3. There is a runner on first (Leo Jiménez) and Javier Sanoja hits a double down the left field line that left fielder Jose Siri grabs. Known for his aggressive sends, third base coach Blake Lalli goes for the tie and waves Jiménez home. Instead, Jiménez gets thrown out and the game is over.

"Good with the send there," Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. "It took a really nice throw from a guy running a long way for it to pick it up there, and tough angle to make that throw home going back across. I love the aggressiveness by Blake and really have since he's been our third base coach. I think he does a great job of balancing aggressiveness in there. Two outs and a chance to tie it up, so all good with me."

This is the second time in a week that the Marlins have ended a game by making an out on the bases. On Tuesday against the Atlanta Braves, with two outs in the top of the ninth, the Marlins went for a double steal, resulting in Jakob Marsee being thrown out at third.

In a lower leverage but still significant moment during Friday's game, the Marlins had Esteury Ruiz running on contact from third base with no outs in the bottom of the third. He was thrown out as well and Miami didn't score in that inning.

According to Baseball-Reference, the Marlins are second in the majors in outs made on the bases with 49 and are now tied for second with 17 outs at home plate.

The Marlins out-hit the Angels, 12-6, but they also left 13 runners on base. Going into Friday's game, the Marlins ranked 22nd in wRC+ (98) with runners in scoring position.

"I thought we put some good at-bats together," McCullough said. "Was that kind of a game where both sides just missed opportunities. It's not about who gets the most hits in a game—it's about scoring more runs and they did that."

Mike Trout, one of the greatest to ever do it, took Marlins starting pitcher Tyler Phillips deep in the top of the first inning, giving the Angels an early 1-0 lead. Phillips would cruise the rest of the way, going four-plus innings and striking out four in the process.

In the top of the fifth, Phillips allowed a base hit to catcher Tyler Heineman and with 61 pitches, McCullough made his way to the mound and took Phillips out of the game. Michael Petersen entered in his place and recorded three outs, despite walking Trout.

With only a few exceptions, the Marlins have not trusted Phillips to provide length since being converted into a starter. He has only completed six innings twice in 13 starts.

"I'd like to fight for it a little bit more, but I am still young in this game and do understand where I stand this year," Phillips said. "Wasn't built up to be a starter out of spring and didn't prepare in the offseason to be a starter. If there is any management there, whatever it is, doesn't matter to me. My goal is to go out there and throw the ball until my manager comes out and takes it from me."

The Marlins did take the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning when Kyle Stowers knocked in an RBI single driving in Jakob Marsee. Stowers finished with four hits, tying his season-high.

Everything went downhill for the Marlins in the top of the seventh inning with Josh Ekness on the mound. He walked Josh Lowe, Tyler Heineman moved Lowe to second on a sac bunt and Wade Meckler grounded out, moving Lowe to third. With a runner on third and two outs, Mike Trout hit a 56.7 mph grounder straight to Ekness, which he bobbled, allowing the ball to get past him and Lowe scored on the error. Florida Atlantic alum Nolan Schanuel took Ekness deep on the second pitch of the next at-bat for a two-run homer, his seventh of the season, giving the Angels a 4-2 lead.

Worst outing of Josh Ekness' young MLB career as he allows 3 unearned runs after whiffing on this Mike Trout grounder pic.twitter.com/RtDh7AqF1B

— Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) August 8, 2026

With the loss, the Marlins have now dropped four straight games and are a game below .500 at 58-59. Sandy Alcantara will take the mound on Saturday afternoon at 4:10 pm.

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[One Regend]

The Angels didn't win. The Marlins simply just beat themselves to lose.

[JustMarlins]

Lallie has been disappointing this year. He’s cost us multiple games and continues repeating the same mistakes. He’s got poor instincts. 

[1993 fan from start]

 

 

 

[1993 fan from start]

 the Marlins are second in the majors in outs made on the bases with 49 . i believe that 100 percent.

The Marlins simply just beat themselves to lose. If that true it be just one to three games.  We seen this more than once.   I do know marlins are number one in caught stealing . and reaching base on error top 5 .   mostly it the same players

 third base coach Blake Lalli goes for the tie and waves Jiménez home How many of you would send Jiménez home plate?  Knowing how he steels and runs the bases.   what I  been saying all years . It's about knowing your players.  .   

[Russell]

Season is done, though I think that became true day Meyer went on IL.

[Hippyboi]

Or it ended at 6pm Monday when we subtracted rather than added.

Do those out numbers include being picked off at first base?

[1993 fan from start]

4 hours ago, Russell said:

Season is done, though I think that became true day Meyer went on IL.

DISAGREE I think it was the day Marlins gave up on Conner.  They had a winning record with him in the lineup. other three losing record..   

[1993 fan from start]

August 7, 1956: Play Ball! On this day 70 years ago, baseball made its debut at the Orange Bowl. A then minor league record crowd of 51,713 fans watched Negro League legend Satchel Paige lead the Miami Marlins to a 6-2 victory over the Columbus Jets. The 50-year-old Paige pitched into the eighth inning and also drove in 3-runs with a double to left-center field. The Marlins were a Triple A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies of the International League and played their home games at Miami Stadium. Cab Calloway and Merv Griffin were among the entertainers who performed before the game. Proceeds went to charity.

[One Regend]

16 hours ago, 1993 fan from start said:

DISAGREE I think it was the day Marlins gave up on Conner.  They had a winning record with him in the lineup. other three losing record..   

yes the marlins are a better team with a guy with negative WAR, yeah that makes total sense

[1993 fan from start]

6 hours ago, One Regend said:

yes the marlins are a better team with a guy with negative WAR, yeah that makes total sense

I counted the game Conner play in with Marlins winning record by 6 games .    Sanoja  play in hitting above 9th along. and Hernández hitting above 5th. in lineup losing record .  Sanoja  28 r 39 rbi  295 ab  conner 200 abs 17r rbi 16

if conner had same amount ab he would of pass  Sanoja easy in runs and rbi. and Hernandez.     Why I say that .   till you come up with something better . i can't change my mind . going off of numbers.