Clayton McCullough managed with an urgency to win on Saturday night and got the desired result. The Miami Marlins placed their most impactful offensive weapon atop the starting lineup, even with their usual leadoff hitter playing as well; the least-established arm in their rotation was kept on a short leash; and soon after taking a lead over the Texas Rangers, they deployed their best reliever and most athletic defenders. It still got extremely dicey at the end, but when the final out settled into Dane Myers‘ glove, the Marlins celebrated victory for the ninth time in their last 10 games.
If Miami’s late-September surge falls short, they will regret the numerous instances earlier in the season when the weakest links on the roster were put in positions to fail (and repeatedly did). It’s refreshing to see competitiveness take priority over player evaluation at this point.
Adam Mazur and Jack Leiter had comparably vanilla outings through four innings, and the contest was fittingly tied at 2-2. But even on the heels of playing 12 strenuous innings the night before, McCullough called upon his bullpen right there. Mazur had thrown only 63 pitches. On the other hand, the Texas lineup was about to flip over for the third time.
The Rangers stuck with Leiter into the sixth inning. Troy Johnston and Connor Norby made them regret that decision with back-to-back home runs, which put the Fish in front, 4-2.
While he did not directly factor into the game’s run production, it’s worth noting that leadoff hitter Jakob Marsee worked Leiter for 18 pitches across three plate appearances. This was the first time all year that Xavier Edwards (who batted third) started a game someplace other than the No. 1 spot.
Cade Gibson picked up only the ninth win by a Marlins left-handed pitcher this season. He was helped out by a strike ’em out, throw ’em out double play that ended the bottom of the sixth inning.
These 2025 Marlins have struggled to control the opposing running game more so than any other team in franchise history, but it’s been a different story recently. Just three runners have even attempted to steal against the Fish over the last eight games, with only one of them being successful.
Ronny Henriquez is wrapping up his breakout campaign by pitching as well as ever. For the 18th time in his last 19 appearances, he didn’t allow any earned runs. On Saturday, he was brought in with two outs in the seventh and the tying run at the plate. After cleaning up that mess, he stayed in to strike out the side in the eighth.
Calvin Faucher‘s 15th save of the season may have been his worst in terms of pitch execution. Faucher surrendered a leadoff homer to catcher Kyle Higashioka and very nearly a walk-off homer to Joc Pederson, which got just far enough inside that Pederson pulled it 399 feet foul down the right field line. Only 13 of the right-hander’s 28 pitches landed for strikes, but to his credit, the victory was sealed on a 99 mph fastball that he dotted on the outside corner for a harmless flyout.
Entering the final eight days of regular season baseball, Miami’s “elimination number” stays at three—that is the combination of Marlins wins and Mets losses needed to officially take them out of the National League Wild Card race. With the Cincinnati Reds, Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants boasting better records as well, the Marlins’ chances of actually making it to October are a mere fraction of one percent.
Regardless, they are sprinting to the finish line in impressive fashion. The Marlins, notoriously, have never had a winning streak of double-digit games, which means by going 9-1 lately, they have matched the franchise’s best-ever 10-game span.
Eury Pérez is the Marlins’ probable starter for the series finale at Globe Life Field. Sunday’s first pitch will be at 2:35 p.m. ET.