Marlins sweep Yankees for the first time to reach .500
Two months ago, the Miami Marlins were swept by the worst team in Major League Baseball at home.
Sunday afternoon, they swept the New York Yankees for the first time in franchise history, completing the improbable climb back to a .500 record with a 7-3 triumph before a sellout crowd of 34,601 at loanDepot park.
Kyle Stowers swatted a three-run homer and Edward Cabrera pitched stellar once again to lead the Marlins (55-55), who don’t have a losing record for the first time since April 15.
The Marlins became the 15th team in MLB history to reach .500 in a season after being at least 16 games under — 25-41 on June 11 after a loss to the Pirates — and the first team since the Rays in 2014.
“We’ve had a steady climb, slow climb at times,” said Marlins’ manager Clayton McCullough. “I think we just got so hyperfocused on what we needed to do to win games. …Very proud of how we’ve been able to do it. To get back to .500, that’s great. It took a lot of work to get there.
“Now, you don’t look back. You just keep moving forward, and we have another tough opponent [Houston] coming in here starting [Monday].”
Sunday afternoon, Jack McKeon was inducted into the Marlins’ Legends Hall of Fame in a pregame ceremony. And a couple hours prior, he drew a parallel between the 2003 World Series championship team he managed and the 2025 Marlins.
“I was saying that to someone the other day,” McKeon said. “The way they’re coming back — they’re almost at .500 now, and I hope they get there today — that reminds me a little bit of 2003 when we started off slow and all of a sudden caught fire.”
Since June 13, the Marlins have gone 30-14 — even after dropping three of four to the Phillies early during that span. That ties the 2003 team for the best record over any 44-game stretch in franchise history.
After Friday’s wild series-opening 13-12 comeback win, second baseman Xavier Edwards said he believes a postseason berth is within reach.
“We’re going to keep fighting until 162 is done and see where the cards stack up,” he said. “Every day, we’re just trying to stack days, stack wins, win series. And if we do that, I think we’ll look at the end of year and be in a good spot.”
Speaking of stacking, they’ve won five games in a row and captured six consecutive series.
Sunday didn’t start off strong, though.
The Marlins trailed 1-0 just five pitches into the game as Trent Grisham launched Cabrera’s 98 mph fastball 412 feet over the center-field wall.
“And then from there, he was really in control,” McCullough said.
“I was not thinking too much about it, just trying to follow up with my routine, my game plan,” Cabrera said via team interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. “And I truly believe a home run early like that doesn’t define the game.”
Cabrera bounced back by retiring eight straight and finished with only that one run allowed on two hits over six innings — his third consecutive quality start. He struck out seven and walked one.
“We expect now, and so does Cabby when he goes out there, that he has so many weapons he trusts in,” McCullough said.
The Marlins scored three runs off Yankees starter Luis Gil — making his season debut — in the second inning, then added three more in the fourth.
“They just came out with a really stubborn approach, really keyholed him, forced him into the strike zone,” McCullough said.
In the second, Troy Johnston’s RBI double to the right--field corner scored Heriberto Hernández from second, tying the score. Xavier Edwards followed with an RBI single up the middle to bring home Graham Pauley. Kyle Stowers then hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1.
In the fourth, Stowers went deep to right off reliever Brent Headrick — his first of the season against a fellow southpaw.
“As great as these last three days, and this run, has felt, you certainly can’t think that anything is going to be easy,” McCullough said. “We have to go out tomorrow and earn tomorrow’s win. We have to come out ready to play. And they will. But it was a nice way to finish the series [Sunday].”
- Outfielder Jakob Marsee, who was 2-for-4 with a double and triple Sunday, is the first MLB player since at least 1901 to record at least four extra-base hits and four walks in his first three career MLB games. He’s 4-for-8 with three doubles, one triple, and four walks in 12 plate appearances.
- Stowers is the fifth left-handed hitter in Marlins’ history to reach 25 home runs in a season, joining Justin Bour (25 in 2017), Mike Jacobs (32 in 2008), Carlos Delgado (33 in 2005) and Cliff Floyd (31 in 2001).
- “Kyle is a dangerous hitter that can cover a lot of locations now and pitch types,” McCullough said. “He’s having a really special season.”
This story was originally published August 3, 2025 at 6:26 PM.