Gus Ramírez picked a big moment to remind the Marlins what he can do.
With loanDepot park buzzing and the Dodgers one pitch away from escaping Sunday’s mess, Ramírez turned on a 94.9 mph four-seamer from Brock Stewart and sent it deep to left-center for a two-run pinch-hit walk-off homer. The shot gave Miami a 6-4 comeback win and sent Ramírez into a jubilant trip around the bases, where he flashed the “Gus Bus” celebration toward a home dugout ready to meet him at the plate.
“It's been a tough year for me, and that moment was a really beautiful moment for me, and I was enjoying every second,” Ramírez said via interpreter Luis Dorante.
The swing ended a wild finish to a game Miami had spent most of the afternoon chasing. The Marlins were down 3-0 in the eighth when Joe Mack and Esteury Ruiz singled to open the frame.
Kyle Stowers then struck out, but Otto Lopez kept the rally moving with a two-run single through the middle that pushed Dodgers right-hander Edgardo Henriquez out of the game. Tanner Scott, the former All-Star Marlins closer, entered and punched out Griffin Conine to stop the bleeding.
Los Angeles added another run in the ninth to make it 4-2, but Miami answered right back. Xavier Edwards, back from the 10-day injured list for the series finale, started the inning with an infield single. Jakob Marsee dropped in a bunt hit, and Javier Sanoja lined a game-tying two-run double down the left-field line to chase Scott.
That set up the final move. Marlins manager Clayton McCullough didn’t want left-handed-hitting rookie Mack against Scott, so he went to Ramírez off the bench.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts responded with Stewart. On the fourth pitch, Stewart left one over the plate, and Ramírez made him pay.
Sanoja, who shares a locker with Ramírez, said the swing didn’t come as a surprise.
“I’m 100% sure that he was prepared for that at-bat,” Sanoja said of his locker mate via Dorante. “We talk a lot.
We share small things, small talks about the game. Just being able to do what he did out there, I’m very happy for him and, again, hoping he has more success in the future.”
For Ramírez, the homer was a welcome jolt in a season that has been anything but smooth. He opened the year as Miami’s catcher, got sent to Triple-A Jacksonville on May 4 when Mack took over, and came back up on Aug. 4 after the club dealt Liam Hicks to Tampa Bay and needed more production against lefties. Since returning, he has been splitting time as a backup catcher, a DH option and a first baseman-in-training.
Entering Sunday, Ramírez was hitting .205/.310/.301 with four doubles, one homer, five RBIs, 11 walks and 22 strikeouts in 84 plate appearances since his August recall. The power has been there in flashes, but the lift hasn’t followed nearly often enough.
This one did. And it mattered.
Ramírez became the sixth Marlin to hit a pinch-hit walk-off homer, and the first since Donnie Murphy on July 19, 2010. The victory was Miami’s seventh walk-off win of 2026, gave the club its first season series against the Dodgers since 2021, and closed out a rough 3-6 homestand that left the Marlins all but out of National League Wild Card contention. Next up is a three-city, nine-game road trip to the D-backs, Padres and Cubs.
“It is important,” McCullough said of Ramírez’s end to 2026. “A swing like today, and seeing him do that, he's capable.
… Still believing in the bat, but then also you need to perform here, and so I think that's kind of where Gus is. There's still a lot of belief in the ability and the age, and a lot of that.
But then it's, [if] you keep getting opportunities, just making the most of those. Don't look too far ahead, but as far as reestablishing yourself in some sense back up here.
It's offensively performing closer to the level we think he's capable of.”
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