Marlins' comeback attempt falls shot in loss to Milwaukee Brewers

Miami Herald

12 hours ago

The new-found Marlins magic fell just short on Friday night. Despite multiple comeback attempts, Miami dropped the series opener to the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-5, in front of a lively crowd of 16,715 fans—many of whom stayed for the postgame fireworks.
'Let's start with the atmosphere. Our crowd tonight was great, and it was a lively, festive environment that gave us a lot of support,' Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. 'It was a really fun game, and unfortunately, we just ran out of time.'
The Marlins trailed 5-2 in the fourth. But as they've done throughout their recent stretch of nine wins in 11 games, they battled back. A solo home run from Connor Norby and a two-run shot by Otto Lopez brought the game back to even in the sixth.
'I think our guys had really good at-bats and were able to claw back multiple times,' McCullough said. 'This game was a real testament to how we just hung in there and did a nice job against a good team.'
Unfortunately for Miami, the Brewers regained the lead in the eighth on a go-ahead RBI double from Jackson Chourio.
The Marlins mounted one final threat in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs, Xavier Edwards singled and Jesus Sánchez worked a nine-pitch walk to put the tying run in scoring position and the winning run on first. But closer Tyler Megill struck out Lopez to end the game and hand Miami just their second loss in the past two weeks.
The Marlins jumped out to an early 1-0 lead thanks to an RBI fielder's choice by Otto Lopez, but the resilient Brewers—despite arriving at their hotel at 4 a.m.—answered in the third. With runners dancing off first and second, Sandy Alcantara was called for a balk that advanced both. Sal Frelick followed with a sacrifice fly, and William Contreras added an RBI double to give Milwaukee a 2–1 lead.
When asked postgame if he had paid too much attention to the baserunners, Alcantara admitted: 'Yeah, probably. You guys saw the balk that cost me two runs, so I need to forget about the runners.'
The Marlins quickly responded in the bottom half of the third, thanks to a pair of Brewers errors. With Edwards on first, Sánchez hit a swinging bunt that was airmailed by pitcher Quinn Priester. Second baseman Brice Turang retrieved the ball and tried to throw out Edwards at third, but that throw sailed wide as well, allowing Edwards to score and tie the game.
The Brewers would reclaim the lead in the fourth, tagging Alcantara for three runs to go ahead 5-2. Making his 17th start since undergoing Tommy John surgery in September 2023, Alcantara showed flashes of his Cy Young form but remains a work in progress.
'I don't know what to say about it,' Alcantara said. 'The competing part of it was great out there, but it wasn't my day today.'
Alcantara threw six innings, allowing five runs (all earned) on five hits and one walk while striking out four.
With the defeat, the Marlins fell to 39–47, tying them with the Braves for third place in the NL East. Veteran righthander Cal Quantrill will take the mound on Saturday, opposing Brewers rookie Chad Patrick in Game 2 of the series.