Marlins have historic night against baseball's best team

MIAMI, FL — The mighty Atlanta Braves weren't so mighty on Monday night against the Miami Marlins, slaughtered by a final score of 12-0. For the Marlins, it was their highest-scoring game of the 2026 season and they produced all of that offense within the first five innings. They accomplished this against a Braves team that holds a huge lead on top of the National League East and entered the game with Major League Baseball's highest winning percentage.

"A lot of really good at-bats today," Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. "It was nice to see us string a bunch of them together to create traffic, and then be able to cash in. (Javier) Sanoja's grand slam was probably the icing on that. Those couple innings I think as a group we really just put together high-quality at-bats."

Javier Sanoja, who going into the previous series against the Tampa Bay Rays had only two hits during the month of May, came out of the Trop with a multi-hit game, both doubles, now followed by his first career grand slam.

"You get off to a nice start during the year, then you hit a rough patch," McCullough said. "I think that's what Javi is getting back to, not try to swing yourself out of every plate appearance to make up for a previous plate appearance or a previous stretch of at-bats. The ability to like make contact is always there, and at times, it can be a detriment where you get yourself out."

Sanoja became the ninth player in Marlins history and the first since Justin Bour (June 10, 2016 at Arizona) to hit a grand slam while batting ninth in the lineup. He also became the fourth non-pinch-hitter to hit a grand slam while batting ninth in the lineup, joining Enrique Hernández, Dontrelle Willis and Chris Hammond.

Xavier Edwards followed Sanoja and hit his fifth home run of the season, marking back-to-back homers for the Marlins in the bottom of the fifth inning, making it a 12-0 game. His homer was off left-handed pitcher Aaron Bummer, marking his third home run off a left-handed pitcher.

Sanoja and Edwards became the second pair of Marlins teammates in franchise history to hit back-to-back home runs with the first homer being a grand slam, joining Derrek Lee and Charles Johnson (April 7, 1998 at PHI).

Rookie catcher Joe Mack enjoyed his best night at the plate since being recalled by the Marlins earlier this month. His RBI groundout opened the scoring in the second inning. Including a single and a bases-loaded walk later on, he drove in four total runs after entering Monday with only two through 12 career games.

McCullough called it "his best collection of at-bats in a game."

"Today was actually was pretty good," Mack said. "Having that good lead allowed me to slow it down, but the game really hasn't sped up on me all too much. Just being able to control it and kind of take a deep breath when you need to is definitely a big help."

Mack is now slashing .225/.262/.300/.562 with six RBI and a 56 wRC+. It's been his defense that has certainly impressed, but the bat seems to be coming around as he has a hit in three straight games.

Provided with plenty of run support, Max Meyer showed no mercy against the Braves. He tossed six innings of two-hit ball, striking out six. His season ERA is now down to 2.85 through 10 starts this season.

Although he threw his fastball more than any other pitch (31%), it is his slider and sweeper that continues to be dominant. He had six whiffs on the slider and four of his six strikeouts came on the sweeper. 

Meyer through 10 starts now has a 2.85 ERA, 3.06 FIP, 10.06 K/9 and 3.19 BB/9. He is the only qualified starter in baseball who has yet to suffer a loss this season. He is also the sixth pitcher in Marlins history to not be charged with a loss through 10 starts to begin a season. The Marlins are now 7-3 when Meyer takes the mound for the Marlins.

"He just continues to show the pitches and how his mix and everything has really come together," McCullough said. "He's such a better pitcher on the mound, but I think even the maturity was obscene from him, and he's just able to handle anything that comes his way during a game and just kind of put it behind him and keep going."

Nearly six years removed from being selected with the third overall pick of the 2020 MLB Draft, Meyer is truly beginning to live up to the hype.

This was the first time since 9/17/23 that the Marlins have defeated a team by 12 runs or more. It also marked the first 12-0 win in franchise history.

With the win, the Marlins are now 22-26, four games under .500 and with a chance for a series split on Tuesday with Braxton Garrett taking the mound. For the Braves, it'll be Martin Pérez. First pitch is at 4:10 pm on Marlins.TV.