Short-rested, revamped Pauley posts career night

[Nate Karzmer]

Welcome to September.

Entering Tuesday night's contest in Kansas City at 69-69, the clock ticks louder as the days roll on for a Marlins team desperately trying to stay alive in the NL Wild Card race—even more so coming off a 1-3 wraparound set in the nations capitol. If the themes from their 6-3 series-opening victory are any omen for what's in store, Clayton McCullough's squad is in for quite the month.

The nucleus of Miami's offense all night was Graham Pauley, back due to expanded rosters for his sixth different stint in the bigs in 2026. He will need to be put on waivers to be removed from the active roster again. Should they make a June-esque run in the coming weeks, contributions up and down the roster will be pivotal.

Pauley wasted no time in his first at-bat back, clobbering a two-run shot to give Miami an early lead. Five innings later, he drove in two more with his second career big league triple, setting a new career high with four RBI on the night.

If that wasn't enough, Pauley didn't even land in Kansas City until the wee hours of the morning due to a delay on his connecting flight from Chicago, as he detailed postgame with Marlins.TV's Kelly Saco.

"I might just have to travel every single day if that's what it takes," Pauley joked.

Despite being in Triple-A for less than two weeks, the 25-year-old's swing is visually different when last seen in Cincinnati. Pauley now features a lower, wider base with his hands higher and more parallel to the ground. Additionally, he noted how thinking of "swinging down" has helped him keep his bat through the zone to counter changeups and spinners of which he previously struggled against.

"I've been working on swinging down. It's just something that's helped me stay through the zone longer...That allowed me to hit the offspeed pitch tonight."

Additional run support came from Kyle Stowers and Javier Sanoja. Stowers deposited his 17th homer into the Royals bullpen in the fifth, while Sanoja followed Pauley's triple with an RBI single of his own in the seventh.

Tyler Phillips was brilliant in his five innings of work, forfeiting a single hit while striking out four. That continues a month-long trend for the Marlins, whose starters have combined for an MLB-best 2.59 ERA since the beginning of August.

Miami turns to Eury Pérez in Wednesday's encore, now sitting just three games back of a playoff spot after San Diego's loss late Tuesday night. First pitch from Kauffman Stadium is set for 7:40 ET.

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