MIAMI — The Marlins reached five games over .500 for the first time since they finished the 2023 season at 84-78 and earned a Wild Card berth, riding a 6-2 victory over the Cardinals that extended their scorching June to 18-5 and pushed their run differential for the month to plus-40.
Xavier Edwards went 3-for-5 with two singles and a double, raising his average to .298 and stretching his hitting streak to six games. Otto Lopez, who leads the Majors with a .336 average, added a triple and a single — his 34th multihit game of the season — as Miami continued to lean on contact and speed rather than power. The Marlins are tied for the third-fewest home runs in the Majors this season with 73 but have stolen an MLB-best 92 bases.
“We realized that it’s kind of a nine-versus-one mentality,” said Edwards. “The more guys we can get on base, the more chances we have to score runs. Or even if it’s just one person on base with two outs, it’s still an opportunity for us. Everyone treats their at-bat the same way, and any way we can help our teammates get on base is a plus for all of us.”
Lopez tripled to right field in the first inning before scoring on an RBI single by Kyle Stowers. Catcher Joe Mack singled to open the third before Edwards bunted him to second — a play originally ruled an error before being changed to a hit. “Glad they changed that to a single,” Edwards said. “[I put] a couple good swings on the ball, got the run in [with an RBI single in the fourth] and hit the ball to the left-center gap [on a seventh-inning double], so quality at-bats after the first one.” Stowers picked up his second RBI later in the third. Jakob Marsee doubled in the fourth, Griffin Conine advanced him to third and Javier Sanoja drove him in with an RBI single before Edwards delivered a two-out single that sent Sanoja home from second. Edwards doubled again in the seventh and Lopez singled him home.
Edwards has slashed .253/.326/.291 in June with 20 hits in 79 at-bats, but his production has picked up during the streak, with multihit efforts in half of those six games. “This is who we can be,” Edwards said. “It’s really fun to be able to play clean baseball and take extra bases and swing the bat well. Play good defense on the other side of the ball, or pitch the ball really well. So, it’s kind of just playing complete baseball, and it’s been awesome.”
Miami has won seven of its eight series this month. Manager Clayton McCullough credited the clubhouse culture. “[The team has] continued how they show up each day and make that day the most important,” McCullough said. “When you get on a good run, try to ride it and enjoy it, but I think our group also is very open to their things within a game that we can do better moving forward. They always want to be coached, and that’s the part that myself and our staff love the most, is that you get to come here and we have a group that is very much laser-focused on winning games and being very selfless, and so, can’t ask for any more.”
The Marlins continue their series against the Cardinals at loanDepot park with the rubber game set for Sunday.