The Miami Marlins led 3-1 through seven innings Sunday at Petco Park. Then reliever Lake Bachar went out and gave up four runs on five hits, and the San Diego Padres walked off 5-3 winners. That was loss No. 12 in a row — the longest losing streak in the franchise’s 33-year history.
Fifteen days ago, this team was 10 games over .500, tied for the National League’s second wild-card spot, and on pace for 89 wins, which would have been the organization’s best total since the 2003 World Series champions. Now they’re two games under .500, out of the postseason picture, and three back of the final wild-card with the trade deadline bearing down on them.
The collapse began July 10 with a 3-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians — the same day Ken Rosenthal reported that, “barring an utter collapse,” the Marlins intended to keep former Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara and add “strategically” to the roster. The utter collapse arrived on schedule.
What makes this stretch so disorienting is what came before it. The Marlins went 20-6 in June — just the second 20-win month in club history and the fastest any MLB team reached 20 wins in a month this season. Their plus-53 run differential over that stretch was the best the franchise has ever posted. From June 1 through July 9, Miami went 26-8.
“Calendar is going to change, and it’s nothing different,” catcher Joe Mack told reporters at the time. “You’re at where you’re at, you’re at where your feet are. Taking that into next month is going to be very important. Obviously, we had a great June, but the month’s over, so we’ve just got to go into next month and just go dominate there.”
Dominate, they have not. The 12-game skid is tied with the New York Mets for the longest in baseball this season, and it has survived bobblehead giveaways and in-stadium happy hours — the kind of promotions a front office schedules when it expects to be winning baseball games, not drowning in them.
Manager Clayton McCullough addressed it Sunday without flinching. “We’re going to meet this head on. I mean, look, there’s no hiding from it. It’s what it is. Does anybody feel good? Certainly not. But to come in here each day and cry about it, make excuses, I don’t know what that’s going to do. I think we have a very prideful group that is certainly upset, frustrated, angry about how things are going, but we’re the only ones that can change that.”
Whether the front office shares that resolve is the question now. If Miami pivots to selling, the chips are considerable. Alcantara has a $21 million club option on the five-year deal he signed in 2021. Max Meyer, a first-time All-Star with a 2.68 ERA across 20 starts, would draw heavy interest — though a neck strain that landed him on the 15-day IL complicates any deal. Eury Pérez, owner of a 3.56 ERA and a recent bid for a perfect game into the seventh inning, is another arm contenders would covet. Catcher Liam Hicks profiles as especially attractive given how thin the catching market has become; Athletics backstop Shea Langeliers tore his meniscus, leaving clubs scrambling for alternatives alongside Hunter Goodman, Ryan Jeffers, and Tyler Stephenson.
In a twist that feels personal, the Marlins’ Triple-A affiliate in Jacksonville is riding its own 12-game losing streak. The Jumbo Shrimp get their shot at redemption Tuesday against the Memphis Redbirds. The big club hosts the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday.
Three games out with a week until the deadline. The Marlins’ front office has to decide whether June was the real team or July was.
Sources:
The Athletic — Marlins lose franchise-record 12th straight