MIAMI -- At the beginning of June, the sky appeared to be falling for the 2026 Marlins.
After a weekend sweep to the Mets in Queens to end May, they had dropped a season-high five in a row to fall a season-high eight games below .500 while losing three starting pitchers -- Robby Snelling, Eury Pérez and Janson Junk -- to injuries.
Then the calendar flipped and the skies began to clear.
With Saturday’s 6-3 victory over San Francisco at loanDepot park, Miami (39-38) moved over .500 for the first time since having a 9-8 record at the start of play on April 14. The club, which is an MLB-best 13-4 in June, has won seven in a row at home to match its longest streak since June 2-19, 2023. The Marlins joined the Phillies as the only clubs this season to go from as many as eight games below .500 to back over .500.
“We're doing a lot of things well right now, which you have to do to win series in a row like this and go on a good run,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “It's as much [as] a lot of the guys in our clubhouse just never stop believing, and we knew there was going to be a run in there. And credit to them for just hanging in there and continuing to stay incredibly consistent with how they approached each day.”
This run shouldn’t come as a surprise considering the 2025 Marlins pulled off something similar. From June 13, 2025, through the end of the season, Miami went 54-42 for the sixth-best record in the Majors and came within four games of the final National League Wild Card spot. Last year and this year, it all started with a sweep of the Nationals in Washington.
Leading the charge has been All-Star hopefuls Otto Lopez, who became the first Major Leaguer to 100 hits, and right-hander Max Meyer, who remained unbeaten.
Meyer didn’t have his best stuff, but he still managed to go five innings of two-run ball with seven strikeouts. He remains the only qualified starter in the Majors without a loss this season (8-0), and he surpassed Dontrelle Willis (7-0 in 2005) for the best record to open a season in Marlins history.
The 27-year-old Meyer has broken out in 2026 much like Edward Cabrera did in 2025. The organization’s third overall pick in the 2020 Draft, who has a long injury history, began Saturday tied for seventh among qualifying NL pitchers with 2.1 fWAR and ranked eighth with a 2.80 ERA.
“Obviously that [me and Sandy Alcantara stepping up] and the bullpen has been great,” Meyer said. “Those guys are stepping up every single series, they're throwing a ton. We're obviously really thankful for those guys, coming in, shutting the games down. They've been huge. It's going to be sweet to have Eury back, and I know Junk's coming back pretty soon, too.”
After Meyer surrendered a game-tying solo shot to Casey Schmitt in the fourth, Miami responded in the bottom of the inning with the decisive four runs.
With the infield drawn in and a runner at third, Jakob Marsee lined a single up the middle for an RBI knock. Lopez followed by chopping a single to left for his 100th hit of the season, becoming the first Major Leaguer to reach that mark in 2026. He joined Luis Arraez (2023) and Dee Strange-Gordon (2015) as the only players in franchise history to be the first Major Leaguer to 100 hits in a season.
Despite the season’s ups and downs as a team, Lopez has been Miami’s one constant. He paced qualifying NL shortstops with 3.0 fWAR entering Saturday. Not only does Lopez lead MLB in hits, but he also leads in average (.332) and multihit performances (30).
“It feels very good,” Lopez said. “I would say it's not about 100 hits. I would say it’s more something that they mentioned before. It's more about the consistency to go out there and just do the same thing every day, and being consistent like that. It's very good.”
Two batters later in the four-run fourth, Xavier Edwards grounded into a run-scoring double play. Heriberto Hernández capped the scoring with a two-run homer off lefty Matt Gage’s slider.
Since being recalled on May 7, Hernández is tied with Kyle Stowers for the most home runs (seven) on the club. He remembers the coaches telling him the demotion was to reset and regain his confidence. His role on the club is pivotal, providing extra-base hits from the right-hand side for a left-handed heavy roster.
“The main goal is just to make it to the playoffs, and that’s what we want to do,” Hernandez said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. “I think that’s what we’re pushing for, what we want to be able to achieve.”