On Sept. 27, 2011, Bryan Petersen authored a moment that fit the old ballpark perfectly: sudden, loud and final. His walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth gave the Marlins a 3-2 win over the Nationals, and it stood as the club’s last victory at the original stadium.
The setting was then Sun Life Stadium, in the next-to-last game of the season and the next-to-last game at the building that had been known as Joe Robbie Stadium and, for a longer stretch of the Marlins’ time there than any other name, Pro Player Stadium. The game was tied at 2-2 when Florida came up against Washington reliever Doug Slaten.
Slaten had already worked himself into a strong position. He struck out Logan Morrison on three pitches, then got John Buck to fly out to center. Petersen had done little before that point, going 0-for-2 with a strikeout, and extra innings looked like the likely outcome.
Then came the first pitch Petersen saw from Slaten, a fastball left over the middle of the plate. Petersen didn’t miss it. He turned on the ball and sent it deep into the right-field seats for a no-doubt homer that sent the crowd home for the final time with a Marlins win.
Florida had not led since the fourth inning, when Emilio Bonifácio’s sacrifice fly brought in Matt Dominguez. Washington answered quickly in the fifth, with Mike Morse hitting a solo homer off Marlins starter Javier Vázquez on the first pitch of the inning. The Nationals then moved in front in the top of the sixth on Ian Desmond’s RBI single, before Bonifácio tied it again for Florida on a wild pitch in the bottom half.
Vázquez finished the game by going the distance for Florida and striking out nine. John Lannan also turned in a quality start for Washington. Bonifácio and Desmond each collected two of the five hits for their teams.
Petersen was 25 at the time and spent all three of his big-league seasons with the Marlins. He hit only two home runs in his career, and the second one became the one that mattered most: the swing that delivered the final home win at the club’s original ballpark.
In Other News...
Marlins Just Made A Hitting Change Fans Will Debate
The Marlins are making a notable change in the dugouts support system, moving on from hitting coach Pedro Guerrero while keeping the rest of their 2026 coaching staff intact. Manager Clayton McCullough will remain in place, as will assistant hitting coaches Chris Hess and Corbin Day, so the organization is clearly choosing continuity in most areas even as it looks for a different direction with the offense.
President of baseball operations Peter Bendix framed the decision as a search for a new voice in the hitting space and a stronger alignment across the department. For a Miami club that has spent plenty of time trying to build a more consistent offensive identity, the move invites the usual debate: whether a fresh perspective can unlock progress, or whether changing one piece of the staff is enough to matter at all. [Read more 🡒]
Marlins Already Face Tough Roster Calls If They Want To Contend
The Marlins are heading into an offseason where the front office will have to balance patience with urgency, and that usually means some difficult decisions on the pitching staff. Miami is expected to look for ways to improve its starting rotation and raise the overall level of the roster, with the organization trying to position itself as a Wild Card contender by 2027.
Janson Junk, Max Meyer and Bradley Blalock all appear to be in the mix as possible trade or release candidates as the club sorts through performance concerns and roster construction. For a small-market team trying to follow the model of other clubs that have stayed competitive, the challenge is not just adding talent but creating room for it, and the Marlins may have to make a few uncomfortable calls before they can take the next step. [Read more 🡒]
Marlins Suddenly Have A Center Field Concern They Cant Ignore
Jakob Marsees first full major league season gave the Marlins a clearer look at what they have in center field, and now it comes with a medical checkup attached. Team president Peter Bendix said Marsee will visit Dr. Keith Meister after dealing with left elbow discomfort late in the 2026 season, a note that lands at an awkward time for a player who was on the field for most of the year and gave Miami steady defense in the middle of the diamond.
The Marlins do have alternatives if the issue lingers, with Esteury Ruiz, Javier Sanoja and prospect Cam Cannarella all in the mix for playing time. But center field looked like one of the few spots Miami could begin to stabilize around Marsee, so any offseason concern there adds a little more uncertainty to a roster still trying to sort out its next step. [Read more 🡒]