Red-hot Marlins acing test against a defending division champ

MIAMI – Marlins first baseman Kyle Stowers has never played in the postseason. But he imagines grinding out games like the first two against the Mariners this week is what he can expect should his ballclub make it to October baseball.

Right-hander Tyler Phillips tossed five innings and Stowers went deep in the 2-0 victory over the Mariners on Wednesday night at loanDepot park as the Marlins (51-42) improved to an MLB-best 25-8 since June 1 with its fifth consecutive win. The club is nine games over .500 for the first time since July 18, 2023 (53-44).

The Marlins have won 15 of their past 17 home games, which is the best home mark in the Majors during that span (dating to May 22). Miami has captured six consecutive home series, with a chance to sweep in righty Janson Junk’s return from the injured list on Thursday.

By taking at least two of three from Seattle, Miami passed its latest litmus test against a quality opponent. The Mariners not only won the American League West in 2025, but they also fell just short of the World Series by losing the AL Championship Series in seven games to the Blue Jays.

“Innings one through nine, game's never over,” Stowers said. “We kind of saw that yesterday, their ability to just keep knocking on the door and staying in it, and our ability to respond and not fall flat. That was really cool.

“Obviously, they're a really, really good team, but we believe in ourselves against everyone. We think we're a really good team as well, and we prepare well. It's always fun playing against teams that you see make deep postseason runs.”

Stowers homered for the fourth time in as many games to give the Marlins a 1-0 lead in the second as he continues to regain his 2025 All-Star form (.960 OPS since June 1). He ambushed righty George Kirby’s first-pitch knuckle curve to open the inning, sending it to straightaway center.

Thanks to Stowers’ tater, the Marlins hold a 31-3 record (.912) when outhomering their opponent, trailing only the Rays (24-1, .960) for the best winning percentage. Miami is certainly not reliant on the long ball, having knocked the eighth-fewest homers in the Majors (94), but the lineup has found a power surge of late with 16 home runs this month – second most in MLB.

Miami added a run in the third on Xavier Edwards’ two-out RBI triple, which scored All-Star Otto Lopez.

On the pitching side, Phillips worked around four hits and two walks to keep Seattle off the scoreboard. Lefty Cade Gibson followed with two scoreless frames, retiring all six batters he faced. Righty Michael Petersen tossed a perfect eighth. Closer Pete Fairbanks collected his 13th save to give the Marlins their eighth shutout – tied for the third most in the Majors.

Phillips, who joined the rotation when the club dealt with pitching injuries, didn’t allow a run for the third start this season. He bounced back from a rough outing in West Sacramento, where he got chased in the fourth after allowing five runs.

“We saw it last year,” Phillips said. “We do have what it takes to be a really good team. … These guys, they fight. I wear this [Fightin’ Fish] shirt a lot. Like every time I come out of a game, I put this shirt on. We're the Fightin’ Fish, man, we're going to fight to the last pitch. Even if it doesn't look good. These guys go out there [and] I don't see anyone ever give an AB away. …

“Pitching, we preach, ‘Do not give pitches away.’ Everybody's stuff is so good.”

The past six weeks have certainly not been a fluke. The Marlins have taken care of business in every aspect of the game – much like they did last season from June 13 and on.

“We're playing a really good brand of baseball,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “Again, talking about the pitching and how well guys have performed on that end, but defensively it's cleaner, and getting, again, a lot of contributions tonight. ... It's nice right now that we're taking some really good at-bats all the way up and down the lineup, and we're pitching at a high rate. When you play this type of baseball, you can go against a lot of really good teams and give yourself a chance to win.”