Burger continues homer binge; Thomas White's new breaking ball a sweeping success

On Sunday, the Marlins led wire to wire in an upset of Dylan Cease and the Padres. Max Meyer pitched a career-high 6 ⅓ innings, though his effectiveness waned after his first trip through San Diego's lineup. Jake Burger homered for the third consecutive game, the fifth time during the homestand and the 12th time since the All-Star break. Luis Arraez went 3-for-5 and continues to lead the National League with 145 hits this season. Andrew Nardi very nearly blew the lead in the ninth, allowing a fly ball to Ha-Seong Kim that ricocheted off Kyle Stowers' glove and over the wall. But it was determined to be a ground-rule double rather than a game-tying long ball, and George Soriano came in to record his first save of 2024. The Marlins won, 7-6.

Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville won, 7-6. Each of this farm system's top three prospects—INF Connor Norby, 1B Deyvison De Los Santos and C Agustín Ramírez—hit home runs. Double-A Pensacola lost, 10-1. Jacob Berry had three of the six Blue Wahoos hits, but also committed an embarrassing error. High-A Beloit lost, 4-1. Low-A Jupiter lost, 5-4. RHP Walin Castillo (4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 48 pitches/31 strikes) had his most dominant outing as a Hammerhead, but the bullpen behind him issued eight walks.

Here's more Marlins news and content:

🔷 Listen back to Sunday's State of the Fish call-in show.

🔷 The Phillies claimed Kyle Tyler off waivers from the Marlins. In eight games (seven starts) at the major league level this season, Tyler posted a 5.40 ERA, 5.04 FIP and 1.74 WHIP in 31.2 IP. It's unclear what the team will do to fill his vacant rotation spot—for the time being, it's just Meyer, Edward Cabrera, Valente Bellozo and Roddery Muñoz. Shaun Anderson cleared waivers and was outrighted to Jacksonville.

🔷 Through 38 Marlins series, here's an updated look at the Prediction Time leaderboard. In addition to yours truly, @Nicholas Milton, @Alec Chao, @Gabriel Revilla and @Ryan Schlesinger each made perfect picks this past weekend. Make series predictions with us all season long when you become a Fish On First SuperSub.

🔷 As explained to FanGraphs' David Laurila, Marlins top prospect Thomas White transformed his signature slurve into a sweeper this season by changing the orientation of his hand. The new weapon plays off his fastball better and carries more velocity (averaging 82 mph).

🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, Aaron Judge mashed his 42nd home run and Giancarlo Stanton reached 20 homers in a season for the 13th time in his career. Yordan Alvarez may be MLB's hottest hitter in August (just ahead of Burger), slashing .438/.561/.969 since the month began with more intentional walks (four) than strikeouts (two). The Braves took a 8-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning against the Rockies and blew it! They've lost seven of their last eight games, allowing 8.5 runs per contest during that span. The slump has caused their playoff odds to dip by 27%.

🔷 Speaking of contests, join us for the return of Marlins Jeopardy tonight from 7:00-8:00 p.m. ET on YouTube/Twitter/Facebook. FOF LIVE is presented by Berger & Hicks. If you’ve been injured as a result of somebody else’s negligence, give them a call at (305) 670-7050.

🔷 Today's MiLB schedule: 

• DSL Marlins vs. DSL Giants Orange, 10:00 a.m. ET (doubleheader)
• DSL Miami at DSL Rangers Red, 10:00 a.m. ET

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