There are 162 games on a baseball schedule, and most nights the highlight reel is a solo shot into the second deck or a diving catch in the gap. Then there are nights when a team turns a triple play — the rarest defensive feat the sport has to offer — and still walks off the field with an L stapled to their forehead. The Miami Marlins lived that exact nightmare Tuesday in Houston.
Bottom of the eighth. Yordan Alvarez and Isaac Paredes led off with back-to-back singles, putting runners on first and second with nobody out and the Astros already leading 5-2. Jose Altuve stepped in and grounded to third baseman Leo Jiménez, who stepped on the bag, fired to Xavier Edwards at second, and Edwards relayed to Kyle Stowers at first. Three outs. One play. The first triple play of the 2025 MLB season.
The crowd at Daikin Park went quiet. The Marlins dugout erupted. And then the game ended 5-3, because baseball does not care about your moment.
The loss was Miami’s eighth in a row, a skid that has taken a team once sitting 10 games over .500 and dragged them to the edge of the wild-card cliff. They entered Tuesday half a game out of a playoff spot. Manager Clayton McCullough, for his part, wasn’t questioning the effort.
“Effort is not something that I’ve questioned with this group,” McCullough said. “We dug ourselves in this spot, and this group will dig ourselves out.”
The Astros didn’t wait around to make it interesting. Jeremy Peña launched a leadoff home run in the first inning, and Lucas Spence doubled in a run in the second to make it 2-0. Stowers cut the lead to 2-1 with an RBI double in the fifth, but Paredes answered immediately with a three-run shot later that same inning — the blow that ultimately decided the game.
Marlins starter Tyler Phillips lasted 4.1 innings, giving up three runs on five hits before Paredes’ homer chased him. Houston’s Tatsuya Imai was sharper: six innings, one run, four hits, eight strikeouts. McCullough noted the slider was working and that his hitters chased plenty beneath the zone.
Rookie catcher Joe Mack provided a sliver of brightness, hitting his ninth home run of the season in the seventh. Mack, who debuted May 4, also threw out Taylor Trammell stealing in the fourth — his MLB-leading 18th caught stealing. “He’s certainly done some terrific things for us,” McCullough said.
Shortstop Otto Lopez returned from a finger injury and went 0-for-3 with two walks and a run scored. He entered the game leading the majors with 130 hits and a .335 average — numbers that mean considerably less when the team around you can’t stop bleeding.
The Marlins entered the game with a majors-best .303 average, .571 slugging percentage, and .949 OPS against American League West opponents this season. They matched Houston with eight hits. One swing — Paredes’ three-run homer — was the difference.
Miami now turns to Sandy Alcantara (10-5, 3.89 ERA) to avoid a third consecutive series sweep and somehow stop the bleeding before heading home. “It will turn,” McCullough said. It better turn fast.
A triple play and a loss in the same box score. Only the Marlins.
Sources
- Yahoo Sports — Marlins Net Triple Play But Still Drops 8th Straight Game
- r/baseball — Highlight: The Marlins Turn a Triple Play