Marlins battle through adversity in KC to inch closer to Wild Card spot

[Louis Addeo-Weiss]

Other teams must see this Marlins offense as pests. If you thought their ninth-inning rally against the Nationals on Sunday made for a wild game, then I am afraid you were not prepared to process the emotions of Wednesday's mid-series matchup against the Kansas City Royals.

In a game that saw the two teams club three home runs apiece, it was a total coin flip in deciding a winner for this game. Fortunately for the Marlins, the coin landed in their favor in a 9-6 victory. Miami is now 71-69, merely 2.5 games back of the final NL Wild Card spot, with just 21 to go in the regular season.

"We kept clipping away and won the second half of this game," noted Clayton McCullough.

Mirroring the Nationals three days prior, Miami jumped out to an early 2-0 lead against southpaw Noah Cameron (5 IP, 4 R), needing just seven pitches to do so. Otto Lopez provided the opening blow, collecting his eighth triple of the season, becoming just the 11th different player in franchise history to accomplish that feat and the first to do so since Dee Strange-Gordon in 2017.

And with Eury Pérez on the mound, the Marlins had to feel themselves firmly in the driver's seat; until they were not. 

One-upping the Marlins by plating their first two runs in just 6 pitches, the Royals gave 23-year-old Eury Pérez one of the biggest challenges of his young Major League career. In a bottom of the first that would wind up being a 34-pitch affair, Kansas City tagged the Fish for a five-spot, highlighted by a pair of home runs courtesy of Carter Jensen and Salvador Perez. Jensen would later go on to homer a second time against Perez in the bottom half of the fourth. 

The prevailing thought in that trying first inning though had to be one of "how long can they afford to keep him out there?" And then, Pérez settled in and made the most of an otherwise forgettable outing, allowing a lone run in the following 3-plus frames, working deep into the fifth inning.

After a 13-start, 75-plus inning stretch from May 22-August 22 where he allowed just 14 earned runs, Pérez has now allowed 11 runs over his last two outings. 

Come the top of the third, the Marlins would begin to claw back thanks to Kyle Stowers ' 18th home run of the season. Riddled with injuries and IL stints due to hamstring strains on both his right and left legs, Stowers owns an .801 OPS in his 103 games played.

 

Heriberto Hernández would contribute two innings later, blasting a ground rule double to cut the Kansas City lead to two, but it would be the sixth inning where Miami clawed all the way back to take a lead they would not relinquish. Griffin Conine, a mid-game substitution for Esteury Ruiz, singled home Javier Sanoja before a sacrifice fly from recently called-up Jared Serna and another Heriberto two-bagger put the Marlins out in front. 

Sanoja and Jakob Marsee would later pad the lead with back-to-back home runs in the ninth. Sanoja certainly seems to have found his stride at the plate in his third season, the owner of a 106 wRC+ through a career-best 122 games played.

 

 

Matching the offense's contributions, Miami's bullpen in relief of Pérez posted 4 1/3 hitless frames, highlighted by a six-pitch save from Calvin Faucher. 

Looking Ahead

The Marlins will bid adieu to the Royals in 2026 when they play the series finale on Thursday. Saving the best for last, both clubs will throw their aces, as Sandy Alcantara (13-8, 3.46 ERA) will oppose Michael Wacha (8-8, 3.32). In two career starts against Kansas City, Alcantara owns a 2.40 ERA, limiting Royals hitters to a .572 OPS. 

First pitch from Kauffman Stadium has been slated for 7:40 pm EST. 

 

View full article