Marlins open 10-game homestand with loss to Philadelphia. And news and notes
A 10-game Marlins homestand began Friday with a furious rally, but ultimately a loss, to Philadelphia in the opener of a four-game series.
The Marlins climbed back from a 6-1 deficit with a three-run eighth inning and a single run in the ninth, but fell short, losing 6-5.
The Marlins victimized the Phillies’ pen with that three-run eighth, which included an RBI single by Otto Lopez, a sacrifice fly by Liam Hicks and an Agustin Ramirez two-out RBI single.
After Ramirez’s hit, Connor Norby’s double left runners on second and third with two outs. But Christopher Morel then took three consecutive strikes from Jose Alvarado to end that rally, triggering boos from the crowd and leaving Miami down 6-4 headed to the ninth.
Javier Sanoja opened the ninth with a walk against Brad Keller, but Jakob Marsee struck out (the third base umpire ruled he didn’t check his swing on a 3-2 pitch).
Marsee was angry, but not as angry as Kyle Stowers, who then struck out looking on a call he disputed. Stowers and manager Clayton McCullough were ejected.
The home plate umpire “didn’t appreciate what Stowers said,” McCullough said.
The Marlins couldn’t challenge the called third strike on Stowers because they had used up their challenges earlier in the game, which McCullough had no issue with. “How many times do you want to go home with them in your back pocket?” McCullough said. Catcher Liam Hicks used the earlier challenges.
As it turned out, the last pitch to Stowers was a strike, the replay showed. “I heard it clipped the zone,” Stowers said. “The umpire was right. I thought it was a ball. I was wrong.” He said he was frustrated with “how the game went.”
After Stowers’ ejection, Lopez then drove in Sanoja with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. But Xavier Edwards, the NL leader in on base percentage, flew out to center to end the game.
The Marlins struck out 12 times overall and eight times against Phillies starter Zack Wheeler, who allowed three hits and a run in six innings.
Playing in front of a crowd of 15,713 spectators, the Marlins dropped to 15-17, while the Phillies (13-19) improved to 4-0 since former Marlins manager Don Mattingly was named the team’s interim manager, replacing the dismissed Rob Thomson.
Lopez, who smashed 15 homers last season, nearly had his fourth of the season on Friday. His 405-foot missile to center field – traveling at a velocity of 103.2 mph - bounced off Justin Crawford’s glove and over the wall and was initially ruled a home run.
But the Phillies challenged and the replay review determined the ball hit the wall before bouncing out of Crawford’s glove, making it a ground rule double.
Here’s the MLB rule on such things: “If a fair fly ball bounces off an outfielder’s glove and over the wall in fair territory, it is ruled a home run. If the ball hits the wall first, then hits the fielder and goes over, it is a two-base award because it was no longer “in-flight.”
After Lopez returned to the field, after a home run celebration, and took his spot at second, Edwards drove him in with a double down the first base line.
Eury Perez (2-3) opened the game with five strikeouts over three scoreless innings before the Phillies scored two in the fourth, on a pair of two-out hits -- an RBI single by Alec Bohm and an RBI double by Crawford.
Perez entered with a 2.50 ERA at home this season, with 21 strikeouts over 18 innings. Batters were hitting just .209 against him at loanDepot Park entering Friday.
He went five innings Friday, exiting down 2-1 after allowing two runs, four hits and two walks, with six strikeouts on a 96-pitch night.
Cade Gibson replaced him and escaped self-created trouble in the sixth inning but couldn’t do that again in the seventh, allowing a two-out RBI single by Edmundo Sosa that pushed the Phillies’ lead to 3-1. Bryson Stott followed with a three-run homer to make it a 6-1 game.
Friday was Gibson’s first big league game this season; he began the season in the minors after posting a 2.63 ERA in 44 games for the Marlins in 2025. He threw 50 pitches in 1 2/3 innings Friday, which McCullough conceded was “asking a lot of him.”
But McCullough wanted him to pitch a second inning in part because Miami has 26 games in 27 days and will need to keep its bullpen as fresh as possible.
This and that
▪ Marlins closer Peter Fairbanks said the discomfort from nerve irritation in right hand/thumb, an injury that landed him on the 10-day injured list this past Tuesday, has subsided and he will try to throw a bullpen session this weekend. The Marlins are hopeful he will be back sooner than later.
Fairbanks has five saves in six chances but also has a bloated 10.00 ERA in 10 appearances.
▪ Outfielder Griffin Conine is progressing well from mid-April surgery on his torn left hamstring tendon.
“He defies modern medicine,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “He’s in a great place, running 70 percent. He’s hitting some, he’s throwing. It’s not surprising Griff is tracking to be probably the lower end of the timeline,” which was six to eight weeks. If he misses six weeks, that would mean a late May return.
▪ New Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis threw out the first pitch and it sailed over catcher Hicks’ head.
This story was originally published May 1, 2026 at 10:33 PM.
