![\"Sep](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/2026-09-11T235605Z_1450776548_MT1USATODAY29792502_RTRMADP_3_MLB-LOS-ANGELES-DODGERS-AT-MIAMI-MARLINS.jpeg\" "\\"Sep")
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Sep 11, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Marlins first baseman Kyle Stowers (28) hits a single against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the second inning at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
Sam Navarro<\/p>\n
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n
Clayton McCullough succinctly summed up where the Miami Marlins stand with two weeks left in the regular season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re running out of time,\u201d the Marlins manager said.<\/p>\n
All season, the Marlins had kept themselves in the thick of the playoff race. A historic June had them as high as the National League\u2019s second wild-card spot. A franchise-record 12-game losing streak that promptly followed knocked them out of postseason position but not out of striking distance.<\/p>\n
The ebbs and flows that have followed have stymied Miami\u2019s attempts to make a fortified push back into the postseason bracket.<\/p>\n
The opportunities to make that final surge up the standings are few and far between.<\/p>\n
After the Marlins\u2019 6-2 series-opening loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, Miami is now 72-76 \u2014 the first time the team has been four games under .500 since June 7. The Marlins have dropped four consecutive games and seven of their past eight to find themselves seven games back of the National League\u2019s final wild card spot with 14 games left in the regular season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mathematically? Miami\u2019s still technically alive in the playoff race.<\/p>\n
Realistically? They\u2019re already reaching what feels like the point of no return.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s before the feeling gets magnified when considering every game left on the docket is against teams either in the playoff field or fighting for that final spot: Two more left with the Dodgers; a nine-game road trip that goes through the Arizona Diamondbacks, San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs; and a three-game series at home against the Braves.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now,\u201d McCullough said, \u201cI\u2019m just as much concerned as just going here and trying to get a win and hopefully we can have that springboard us into you know another winning series here at home.\u201d<\/p>\n
That didn\u2019t happen on Friday. Miami fell behind 2-0 early against the Dodgers (90-57) and starter Blake Snell before breaking up the shutout with an Agustin Ramirez RBI double in the sixth off reliever Evan Phillips to cut the deficit to 2-1.<\/p>\n
But everything unraveled for Miami in the seventh. Reliever Victor Vodnik logged two quick outs before loading the bases on a pair of walks to Tommy Edman and Mookie Betts with a Max Muncy single sandwiched between them. McCullough then pulled Vodnik for Cade Gibson to get the left-on-left matchup with Kyle Tucker.<\/p>\n
Tucker sent the third pitch he saw, a near middle-middle 79.5 mph sweeper, a projected 395 feet to right-center for a grand slam to push Los Angeles\u2019 lead to 6-2.<\/p>\n
Tucker went 3 for 3 with a sacrifice fly and finished a double shy of the cycle.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe just wasn\u2019t able to finish it,\u201d McCullough said of Vodnik. \u201cA couple walks hurt. And then we take a shot with Gibby there just to figure this is kind of the game right here. We\u2019re down a run, and Tucker\u2019s a terrific hitter, handles lefties well. He\u2019s good. Independent of how maybe this season has gone, he\u2019s still a fantastic hitter and has been for a long time. He got a hanging breaking ball and turned the game for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
And kept the Marlins spiraling down the stretch.<\/p>\n
Miami has just one series win in its past five attempts. A last-ditch effort for a playoff spot appears all but futile.<\/p>\n
\u201cCertainly not as great [of a shot] as it was three days ago, five days ago,\u201d McCullough said, \u201dbut it\u2019s the spot we\u2019re in.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sep 11, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Marlins first baseman Kyle Stowers (28) hits a single against the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397618,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-397617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397617\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}