TAMPA, FL – It was a hot, sunny afternoon at George M. Steinbrenner Field. The game was atypical Friday 1:10 pm start. Still, Marlins fans sure did make the four-hour drive to come see the battle of the Citrus Series rivalry. For the Miami Marlins and the Tampa Bay Rays, the hits did come in bunches. Each squad had 11 of them. However, the Rays were able to capitalize just a bit more with runners on base. As a result, the Marlins dropped the series opener against the Rays thanks to a disputable call in the third inning.
Disputable call at first shifts momentum
Down 1-0 in the third inning, Dane Myers kicked things off with a double. With a man at second and no outs, Xavier Edwards laid down a nice bunt towards the pitcher, Zack Littell. Littel made a bad throw past first base, and Edwards ran into first baseman Jonathan Aranada. As a result, Myers scored. That is until home plate umpire Chad Fairchild called Edwards out for interfering with Aranada, and he sent Myers back to second as a result.
Bizarre situation in Tampa.
Instead of a tie game, thanks to a perfect Xavier Edwards bunt, Edwards is called out on interference at first base.
Moments later, Clayton McCullough was ejected for the first time as Marlins manager for arguing the call.
Extremely questionable. pic.twitter.com/Bcu4WkDoZM
— Nate Karzmer (@NateKarzmer) June 6, 2025
Since the call was unreviewable, Clayton McCullough ran out of the Marlins dugout and gave Fairchild an earful. Chad Fairchild wasn’t having it and tossed McCullough out of the game. It was his first career ejection as manager. Not only that, but Xavier Edwards also got tossed as well for arguing. Just like that, the Marlins were out of their manager and starting second baseman.
Cabrera pulled after just 63 pitchers
Following his streak of great outings, Edward Cabrera had a rocky start. In the first inning, he quickly ran into trouble, walking Brandon Lowe, giving up a double to Junior Caminero, and then allowing an RBI single to Jonathan Aranda. Cabrera even threw a wild pitch, which allowed Aranda to advance to second. More than a third of his total pitches were thrown in this inning alone.
The third inning saw the Rays expand their lead even more. Miami’s defense wasn’t helping matters when Liam Hicks let a groundball roll off his glove, allowing Lowe to reach first. Then, Caminero hit a sharp line drive double, and just like that, the Rays had two men on base. Back-to-back groundouts by Aranda and Jake Mangum would allow the Rays to score and jump to a 3-0 lead.
Only 4 innings/63 pitches for Edward Cabrera 🤨
— Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) June 6, 2025
It was questionable as to why Edward Cabrera lasted just four innings with only 63 pitches thrown. He allowed six hits and three runs, but he also had five strikeouts. The Rays did seem to get the best of him at times, but he wasn’t completely struggling out there either. At the end of the day, he got the loss, but the good news is that his ERA dropped to 3.99.
Marlins runs all via home run
Come the 4th inning, Agustin Ramirez had a good eye at the plate. He had a 3-0 count, with all pitches thrown at him being well off the plate. The first good one he saw, Ramirez was able to rip a four-seam fastball into center field for a solo home run.
The wheels on The Bus go RAKE RAKE RAKE pic.twitter.com/jWR1uIS387
— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) June 6, 2025
In the 8th inning, the Marlins desperately needed a big bat to come through if they had any hopes of winning this ball game. Javier Sanoja led off the inning with a sharp line drive double to left field. Then, Otto Lopez became that guy by hitting a 424-foot two-run home run.
On his daughter’s birthday too 😊 pic.twitter.com/HoBheH1tl3
— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) June 6, 2025
That was all for the Marlins in the scoring department. They finished the game going 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, and they left eight runners on base. It was another game where they got the hits, but didn’t score enough runs to show for it.
Soriano’s struggles continue
George Soriano has not been a reliable bullpen guy this season. It’s become constant for opposing hitters to overwork him and score runs off him. Friday afternoon was no different. He had to work through the 7th inning. Soriano allowed three hits, with the last one being an RBI single for Matt Thaiss. Soriano’s ERA has been well past 7.20 since the end of March.
Summary
The Rays would go on to win this game 4-3. They didn’t fare much better with runners on base. Tampa went 2-for-14 with RISP and left nine runners on the basepaths. Looking back, the game could’ve gone either way, but it felt like the pair of ejections early in the game were huge momentum factors.
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