MIAMI -- The best team in Major League Baseball since the start of June stumbled Tuesday night, but still found a way to win.
Opening a six-game homestand before the All-Star break after winning seven of 10 on the road, the Marlins beat the Mariners 6-5 Tuesday night at loanDepot park. Jakob Marsee was the man of the moment, launching a 369-foot single to the right-center gap to give the Marlins the win in the 10th inning.
Miami -- which entered Tuesday in sole possession of the final National League Wild Card spot, and one game back of the Phillies for the second spot -- improved to 24-8 since the beginning of last month. The Marlins moved to eight games over .500 (50-42) for the first time since July 30, 2023, when they were 57-49.
And they did so by beating an American League West leading squad that arrived in Miami having won five of its past six games.
The Marlins seized a 2-0 lead in the second inning, ending a 25-inning scoreless streak for Mariners pitchers that included back-to-back shutouts versus the Blue Jays the past two games. First, Owen Caissie crushed a Statcast-projected 418-foot solo home run to right-center. Then after consecutive singles by Javier Sanoja and Liam Hicks, who extended his MLB-leading hitting streak (17 games) and on-base streak (19) Tuesday, Sanoja raced home on a wild pitch from Seattle starter Bryan Woo.
Marsee made it 3-0 the next inning with a single to score Griffin Conine. The Marlins tacked on another run in the fourth as Hicks doubled and scored on Kyle Stowers’ sacrifice fly.
The Mariners chopped their deficit in half in the fifth. Cal Raleigh led off with a double against Marlins starter Max Meyer and scored on Luke Raley’s sac fly, and Cole Young then homered to right. The visitors failed to score with the bases loaded and no outs in the sixth, however, against reliever Michael Petersen after Meyer exited.
Meyer, coming off his first loss after opening the season 9-0, pitched five-plus innings, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out four and walking two. He threw 80 pitches.
Before the game, MLB announced that Meyer, named a first-time All-Star on Saturday, will not pitch in next Tuesday's All-Star Game. The Marlins noted it’s because Meyer will start Sunday against the Guardians in the team’s final game before the break. Phillies left-hander Jesús Luzardo was named Meyer’s replacement.