The Marlins’ playoff math took another hit Wednesday night in Atlanta, where a 4-1 loss dropped Miami to 58-57 and left the club 2.5 games back of a wild-card spot in the Senior Circuit. It was another frustrating result in a season where every slip feels magnified, especially after the trade deadline departures of Liam Hicks and Lake Bachar.
Eury Pérez got the start for Miami and flashed the kind of swing-and-miss stuff that can keep a team alive even on a rough night. He struck out nine over five innings, but the second inning got away from him fast.
Pérez needed 34 pitches in that frame alone and surrendered three runs before Atlanta added a fourth in the next inning on a Mauricio Dubón single. The right-hander was charged with the loss, moving to 5-9.
Even with the damage on the scoreboard, manager Clayton McCullough saw reasons to stay upbeat. "If his clunkers look like this, we'll be very encouraged with it," noted McCullough.
Pérez wasn’t exactly thrilled with the outing, but he pointed to some of the positives after the game. "There's a lot I can feel proud of.
The ground balls I was able to induce and the fact that I was able to make it through five innings. It's a growing process...", said Pérez through interpreter Luis Durante.
The deeper numbers were kinder to Pérez than the box score. He generated 18 swings-and-misses and, with a noticeable bump in pitch velocity, looked sharper than the final line suggested. His start ERA sits at 7.20, but the underlying indicators - a 0.70 FIP and 1.92 xFIP - told a much different story.
Miami’s only run came in the fifth, when Joe Mack’s groundout scored Owen Caissie. Mack now has 34 RBI since reaching the majors, which ranks third among Marlins rookie catchers who started at least 60 percent of their games behind the plate.
Only 1995 Charles Johnson, with 39, and 2015 J.T. Realmuto, with 47, have driven in more.
Through the first two games of the series, Miami has gone 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
On the other side, Bryce Elder was in full control. In his 12th career start against Miami, he held the Marlins to one hit over seven innings, allowing just one run and lowering his career ERA against them to 3.31.
The late innings brought a familiar script. As they did in Tuesday’s loss, Miami put together a brief push against the Atlanta bullpen, collecting a pair of hits off Dylan Dodd.
But the rally fizzled when Otto Lopez grounded out on the first pitch he saw to Austin Riley, ending the night with the Marlins stuck one game over .500. Lopez went 0-for-4, which dropped his season average to .320 and left him .005 behind former Marlin and three-time batting champion Luis Arraez in the NL batting title race.
Martín Pérez (7-6, 3.24 ERA).
In Other News...
Marlins Trade Is Already Under Scrutiny After Ex Prospect Makes History
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The blast was the first grand slam of Hicks career debut in franchise history and also Tampa Bays first of the season, which only sharpened the attention on the move that sent him out of Miami. Rays manager Kevin Cash praised the impact, and Hicks said the moment carried real significance for him too. For the Marlins, though, the more uncomfortable part is still hanging in the background: the return package that brought him to Tampa Bay is already going to be judged against a debut that could not have gone much better. [Read more 🡒]
Joe Mack Is Forcing A Marlins Decision They Can't Delay
Joe Mack has gone from promising young catcher to a player the Marlins can no longer treat as a distant part of the plan. His strong 2026 season has already put him in franchise territory, including a Marlins single-season record for catcher WAR in the post-J.T. Realmuto era, and the organization has acted like it knows what it has. Trading a backup catcher was another sign that the path is being cleared for Mack, while president Peter Bendix has already labeled him a budding superstar.
The bigger question now is how long Miami can wait before turning that belief into something formal. The Marlins have not extended a players contract since March 2022, and with Macks rise making him one of the most important pieces on the roster, the pressure is building to get ahead of the next stage rather than chasing it later. In a market that has been careful with its commitments, Mack is forcing a decision the club can keep postponing only for so long. [Read more 🡒]
Marlins Collapse Changed Everything About This Seasons Outlook
A 12-game losing streak can do more than wreck a week on the schedule, and for the Marlins it has reset the tone around an entire season. What had looked like a team with something to build on suddenly became a club measuring damage control, with the skid standing out not just for its length but for how sharply it altered the conversation inside the organization and around the league.
The impact reached beyond the standings, too, because the slump shaped how Miami approached the trade deadline and what remained of its playoff hopes. Earlier Marlins losing streaks have come and gone, but this one carried a different weight, leaving the season outlook far removed from where it had been before the slide began. [Read more 🡒]