Marlins bats, questionable decisions waste terrific Tyler Phillips start

In the role of Marlins starting pitcher, Tyler Phillips has been a mixed bag to this point. Through his first five starts, Phillips posted a 4.94 ERA, with a lot of that damage concentrated in a June 16 clunker against the Phillies, where he allowed eight runs over four innings. 

On Sunday, the Marlins saw the good upside of that mixed bag, as Phillips, doing his best Sandy Alcantara, struck out just one over a season-high 7 ⅓ innings of one-run ball. Phillips became the first Marlin since Henderson Alvarez back on 7/31/13 to record an out in the eighth inning in a start with one or fewer strikeouts. The 28-year-old's lone strikeout came at the expense of NL Rookie of the Year frontrunner JJ Wetherholt. 

"He was outstanding today...was able to economically get through innings," noted manager Clayton McCullough.

Unfortunately, Phillips' great effort would be all for nothing, as the Marlins only scratched across one run in their 2-1 loss to the Cardinals. Snapping their current 4-game winning streak, the Marlins still find themselves 44-40 and vying for a playoff spot. 

The lone blunder on Phillips' day came early courtesy of a two-run homer from rookie left fielder Bryan Torres. 

Held hitless by Kyle Leahy through the first four, the Marlins broke through in the fifth when Owen Caissie launched a leadoff double. The recently recalled Grant Pauley authored his second double in as many days to bring home Caissie, though Cardinal pitching would allow just two more Marlins to reach base.

In keeping with a prevailing theme for the 2026 club, Clayton McCullough made a pair of changes that had some scratching their head. Prioritizing the platoon advantage, McCullough removed the aforementioned Caissie and Pauley for pinch-hitters Esteury Ruiz and Leo Jiménez, respectively. That was part of a sequence which saw the Fish use four consecutive pinch-hitters, who combined to go 1-for-4. The lone hit—Jiménez's seeing-eye single in the seventh—would prove inconsequential.

Although a road series win is nothing to scoff at, the Marlins ought to be leaving town feeling unfulfilled having limited the opposition to three total runs this weekend, yet falling short of completing the sweep.

Looking Ahead

Miami will hope to find its Rocky Mountain High as they begin a four-game series against the Colorado Rockies. Sandy Alcantara (8-4, 4.01 ERA), now the Marlins' all-time strikeout leader, will toe the rubber in Monday's series opener. Sean Sullivan (0-2, 8.25 ERA) will oppose him as he makes just his fourth career big league appearance.

First pitch from Coors Field is slated for 8:40 EST/6:40 MDT.