The Miami Marlins are refusing to go quietly. Behind a resilient bullpen, a collection of clutch swings from their rookie-laden lineup, and a message from their first-year skipper to “tune out the noise,” Miami staged a late rally and outlasted the National League East champion Philadelphia Phillies, 6-5, in 11 innings Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park.
Xavier Edwards delivered the go-ahead sacrifice fly in the top of the 11th, and rookie left-hander Josh Simpson stranded the tying run at third to seal the Marlins’ seventh straight victory. The win kept Miami’s faint postseason hopes flickering, improving the club to 77-80 — four games behind the Mets for the final NL Wild Card spot with just five games left.
For manager Clayton McCullough, who is guiding 13 rookies through September pressure for the first time as skipper, the formula has been about focus and resilience. “We’re playing some of our best baseball right now,” McCullough said. “Don’t get caught up in what everything means. Just keep playing.”
The Marlins needed that mindset after a slow start. Returning from a right elbow sprain that had sidelined him since Aug. 31, Edward Cabrera gave Miami four innings, allowing three runs — including homers to Kyle Schwarber and Otto Kemp — before settling down to strike out three of his final seven hitters. “Fantastic,” Cabrera said through an interpreter. “I pushed to get back because helping the team win was the most important part.”
Miami’s offense looked stalled against Phillies lefty Cristopher Sánchez, who twirled seven shutout frames. But the game flipped once the Phillies turned to their bullpen in the eighth. Griffin Conine, in his first game back from the 60-day IL, lifted a cutter from former Marlin David Robertson into the right-field seats to put Miami on the board. Later in the inning, Otto Lopez and rookie Liam Hicks strung together two-out singles, with Lopez scoring on a throwing error to cut the deficit to 3-2.
The real jolt came in the ninth. Facing All-Star closer Jhoan Duran, rookie Heriberto Hernández lined a 100.9 mph fastball into the left-field seats to tie the game, 3-3, stunning the Philadelphia crowd.
After a rain delay of more than an hour, Miami briefly surged ahead with two runs in the 10th, but the Phillies answered with RBI singles from Alec Bohm and pinch-hitter Nick Castellanos to even the score again at 5-5.
In the 11th, Hernández set the table with an infield single off Lou Trivino, putting runners on the corners for Edwards. The rookie calmly lifted a changeup into right field, scoring the go-ahead run.
That left it to Simpson, who redeemed himself after yielding the game-tying knock in the 10th. The lefty induced three consecutive groundouts, including Bryson Stott’s comebacker to end the game, stranding the tying run 90 feet away.
The Marlins’ hot streak — 11 wins in their past 12 games — has come too late to give them much margin for error. Their elimination number is down to two, and they’ll close the regular season this weekend in Miami against these same Phillies. But for one more night, McCullough’s kids kept believing.
“Everyone in here is fighting for each other,” Hernández said. “We know what’s at stake, but we’re just playing ball. And right now, we’re winning ballgames.”
