MIAMI, FL – After starting the homestand strong with a sweep against the Seattle Mariners, the Miami Marlins didn’t finish off the first half of 2026 the way they wanted to. The Marlins got swept by the Cleveland Guardians after a 3-1 loss to close out the first half of the season.
Marlins Close Out First Half with Bullpen Day
First-time All-Star Max Meyer was due to start today, but he was scratched days in advance to get some rest, as the Marlins will be relying on him in the second half for a postseason bid.
Tyler Phillips made his 10th start of the season Sunday afternoon against the Guardians. He threw more pitches than he wanted to, totaling 26 on the inning. Cleveland scored twice on singles from Brayan Rocchio and Kyle Manzardo. Phillips got his opponents to swing at 14 of his pitches.
Calvin Faucher completed both the second and third innings on 29 pitches. He allowed just two hits and maxed out at 96.3 MPH. 12 of his pitches were cutters.
Tyler Zuber allowed two hits in 0.2 innings of the fourth. Michael Petersen tossed 1.1 innings across the fourth and fifth innings. He allowed a solo homer to Rocchio and eventually had to leave in the fifth inning after suffering right hamstring tightness.
Cade Gibson tossed a total of two innings, getting three swing-and-misses on 26 pitches. Lake Bachar had the best outing of all Marlins pitchers, striking out three hitters on the curveball in 1.1 innings. He did allow a run to former Marlins prospect Kahlil Watson.
Pete Fairbanks took care of the final frame, surrendering a solo homer to Chase DeLauter.
Offense Slumps in Final Series
Miami was once again disappointing with their bats in the game. Their first run came in the third inning with an RBI single from Xavier Edwards, which scored Heriberto Hernandez to cut their deficit in half at the time.
Joey Cantillo had the Fish in check, striking out nine hitters in his five innings of work. Today, they were 1/6 with runners in scoring position, leaving six runners on base. Yesterday, they were 2/7 with runners in scoring position, leaving eight on base. Friday, Miami went 0/4 with runners in scoring position, leaving six on the basepaths.
All-Star Otto Lopez went 0/12 in the series. Javier Sanoja went 2/4 today after back-to-back 0/4 contests. Kyle Stowers hit 1/9 during the weekend. Jakob Marsee was 1/8 at the plate.
Griffin Conine hit a solo home run as the Marlins were down to their last out. His fifth homer of the season went quite the distance, leaving the ballpark with an exit velocity of 113.2 miles per hour at a distance of 442 feet.
Despite carrying a three-game losing skid, the Marlins still hold onto the final Wild Card spot with a 52-45 record. If the Marlins were an American League team, they’d have the third-best record.
The Marlins will now enter the All-Star break with their next series being against the Milwaukee Brewers from July 17-19.
He’s a diehard 305 native who roots for his hometown teams in the good, the bad, and the ugly. Recently, he graduated from FIU with an MBA, but now he’s a Lemonhead covering UM basketball. Known to be anywhere and everywhere, you may catch him at a Miami sporting event.
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