Entering the 2025 season, the National League East was expected to be a three-team dogfight between the Mets, Braves, and Phillies — all considered legitimate World Series contenders. The Miami Marlins, on the other hand, were widely viewed as a rebuilding club with the league’s most inexperienced roster.
But on Tuesday night at loanDepot park, the underdog Marlins showed they belong in the conversation, storming back from a one-run deficit to defeat the Phillies 8-3 with an electrifying six-run outburst and airtight relief pitching to seal the win.
The victory marked Miami’s 10th against division opponents this season (10-9), continuing their encouraging campaign within one of MLB’s toughest divisions.
Trailing 3-2 entering the bottom of the sixth, the Marlins loaded the bases without a hit, drawing back-to-back walks off former Miami ace Jesús Luzardo to start the inning and chasing him from what was expected to be a celebrated return to South Florida.
Kyle Stowers tied the game on a slow roller to third against lefty Tanner Banks — Miami’s second infield hit of the frame. Then, 22-year-old Javier Sanoja delivered the biggest swing of the night with a roaring go-ahead RBI triple down the right-field line, his first career three-bagger. Sanoja erupted with emotion, firing up the dugout as Miami took a 4-3 lead it would never relinquish.
Xavier Edwards followed with an RBI single to right that was misplayed by Max Kepler, scoring Sanoja. In the seventh, Jesús Sánchez launched a pinch-hit solo homer — a 407-foot blast to straightaway center off Joe Ross — giving the Marlins a 6-3 lead and tallying their fourth pinch-hit homer of the young season after hitting just one in all of 2024.
Agustín Ramírez and Otto Lopez added RBI singles in the eighth, capping the scoring and matching a season high with seven different Marlins recording at least one RBI in the game.
Eric Wagaman had earlier provided the spark in the second inning, blasting a two-run homer to dead center off a 97.3 mph fastball from Luzardo. The 406-foot shot — Wagaman’s first since May 23 — broke a 274-at-bat home run drought for Miami at home, the club’s longest since a 13-game drought in 2022.
Starter Cal Quantrill was sharp early, limiting the Phillies to just a Trea Turner solo homer through four innings before a leg cramp forced his exit in the fifth after allowing a double and a hit batsman. Reliever Ronny Henriquez allowed both inherited runners to score, giving Philadelphia a 3-2 lead at the time.
But Miami’s bullpen locked things down from there, with five relievers combining for 4.2 scoreless innings. Former Phillie Tyler Phillips contributed a scoreless seventh, while fellow ex-Phillie Freddy Tarnok picked up the win — his second appearance with the Marlins after earning a save in his debut Sunday.
Tuesday’s win was another sign that the Marlins, despite their youth and lack of expectations entering the season, are not to be taken lightly in the NL East. With strong performances from unheralded names and a growing confidence in the clubhouse, Miami continues to make noise in a division where every game counts.
The series continues Wednesday night, with the Marlins eyeing a statement series win against one of the division’s juggernauts.
