Marlins end six-game losing streak in grand fashion as Stowers hits walk-off homer

Kyle Stowers snapped the Miami Marlins’ six-game slide in spectacular fashion Saturday, crushing a walk-off grand slam off reliever Mason Miller.

The Marlins scored five runs in the ninth — all with two outs — and erased their third deficit of the game, beating the Athletics 9-6 at loanDepot park on Stowers’ 396-foot blast to left center.

The sixth walk-off grand slam in franchise history was the first since Giancarlo Stanton went deep against the Mariners on April 18, 2014.

“I don’t like to say the words, ‘We needed it,’ but it was a good time for a win,” said Stowers, who was sprayed with water in a wild celebration at home plate. “It was cool to be in the middle of it. That’s why you play the games, for moments like that. Just to have the opportunity is special.”

Fittingly, it came against the A’s — the same organization for whom one of the first people to believe in Stowers’ swing, legendary pitcher Dave Stewart, once starred. Stewart coached Stowers as a teen on a San Diego travel team called the Easton A’s.

Stewart became a mentor to him, and the A’s legend and 27-year-old Marlins outfielder remain close and communicate regularly.

“I love the guy so much,” Stowers said, standing by his locker before the game. “He’s probably the biggest baseball influence I’d had in my life. I know he was a pitcher, but I trust him with my swing. I trust him pretty much with everything about my game — and really, my life. He’s truly family to me.”

Stowers joined Stewart’s team as a 12-year-old and the two “hit it off pretty quickly,” Stowers said. “He’s someone that’s always sincerely believed in me.”

A 2013 photo on Stowers’ Instagram shows him in an Athletics uniform, smiling alongside Stewart, with the caption: “Absolutely blessed to have this man in my life!”

Stewart, now a special assistant to player development for the A’s, played 16 seasons in MLB, eight of them for Oakland. He was named World Series MVP when the A’s won the title in 1989 and won two other World Series championships, with the Dodgers (1981) and Blue Jays (1993). Stewart retired in 1995.

“I would have loved to step in the batter’s box against him,” Stowers said this spring.

These days, Stowers is swinging with success against most pitchers. He was 2 for 5 Saturday, blasting a 422-foot, two-run homer to center off starter Osvaldo Bido in the third inning. He swatted two home runs while going 4 for 4 against the Dodgers on Wednesday in Los Angeles and entered this weekend’s series slashing .371/.406/.613/1.019 since April 9.

“What a stretch he’s on,” said Marlins’ manager Clayton McCullough. “When you continue to stack the kind of at-bats he’s doing against the quality of arms, versus right-[handers], versus left-[handers], this is a really terrific version of him. …He’s a real presence up there right now. A lot of confidence. As he should have.”

Before the game, McCullough said Stowers “has been on a quest” since the start of spring training “recognizing and understanding what the league did to him last year. He’s been very open to what adjustments he’s had to make.”

In 50 games with the Marlins last season following a trade from the Orioles, Stowers hit .186 (29 of 156) with 61 strikeouts. He had 15 RBI and two homers.

Stowers has used the Trajekt Arc pitching machine to improve his plate appearances and is one of the MLB players swinging torpedo bats.

In 30 games this season, he is hitting .324 (34 of 105) with 25 RBI and six homers.

“It’s been a good stretch. I feel like I’ve hit a lot of balls hard, but this game will humble you quick, so I try to truly go into each day with a clean slate,” Stowers said. “I don’t have expectations moving forward. I’m just going to keep working my tail off and would obviously love for this stuff to keep happening.”

Stowers’ first homer Saturday knotted the score at 2.

Marlins’ starting pitcher Max Meyer gave up a solo home run in each of the first two innings — a 409-foot shot to center to Brent Rooker and then a 373-foot shot to right to former Marlin JJ Bleday, who also homered Friday.

Meyer allowed five runs for the second consecutive start, as well as 10 hits through five innings. He failed to record a strikeout after posting a career-high 14 in his last home outing. Meyer absorbed a line drive off his throwing hand in the third inning but said after the game X-rays confirmed nothing serious.

The Marlins’ final at-bat began with Matt Mervis getting hit by a pitch. After Connor Norby and Dane Myers struck out, Javier Sanoja doubled. Mervis scored on a wild pitch and walks to Ronny Simon and Xavier Edwards loaded the bases for Stowers against Miller.

“That’s as good of a heater as you’ll see, and to go up there ready to hit and be able to do that in that moment, good for him, it couldn’t have happened to a better guy,” McCullough said of Stowers. “The game rewards you for how you play and go about it and today rewarded Kyle for what he’s been doing to this point.”

▪ Sanoja started at second base in place of Otto Lopez, who could be placed on the injured list after an MRI revealed a Grade 2 ankle sprain, sustained Friday. McCullough said Lopez’s status will be determined in the coming days.

▪ Center fielder Jesus Sanchez was a late scratch because of tightness in his back, McCullough said. Dane Myers replaced him in the lineup.

▪ Sandy Alcantara threw his bullpen Saturday with baserunners to work on holding them after allowing four steals to the Dodgers on Wednesday. Alcantara also surrendered seven runs, seven hits and five walks, and threw two wild pitches in 2 2/3 innings. He has an 8.31 ERA through six starts since returning from Tommy John surgery.

“This guy’s not going to settle for what’s been going on,” McCullough said. “He’s working to improve every part of his game. You don’t see many Major League pitchers come out into a bullpen session and have that type of environment created. That’s a testament to him, his willingness to…work on multiple things within this setting.”

▪ Left-handed pitcher Ryan Weathers (forearm strain) will make another rehab start at Triple-A Jacksonville and throw about four innings/70 pitches, McCullough said.

▪ The Marlins debuted their new “Retrowave” uniforms, which garnered rave reviews inside the clubhouse. They will wear them for all remaining Saturday home games.