After another loss, Marlins ‘running out of time’ to put together a playoff push

Clayton McCullough succinctly summed up where the Miami Marlins stand with two weeks left in the regular season. 

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“We’re running out of time,” the Marlins manager said.

All season, the Marlins had kept themselves in the thick of the playoff race. A historic June had them as high as the National League’s second wild-card spot. A franchise-record 12-game losing streak that promptly followed knocked them out of postseason position but not out of striking distance.

The ebbs and flows that have followed have stymied Miami’s attempts to make a fortified push back into the postseason bracket.

The opportunities to make that final surge up the standings are few and far between.

After the Marlins’ 6-2 series-opening loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, Miami is now 72-76 — the first time the team has been four games under .500 since June 7. The Marlins have dropped four consecutive games and seven of their past eight to find themselves seven-and-a-half games back of the National League’s final wild card spot with 14 games left in the regular season entering play Saturday.

Mathematically? Miami’s still technically alive in the playoff race.

Realistically? They’ve already reached what feels like the point of no return.

And that’s before the feeling gets magnified when considering every game left on the docket is against teams either in the playoff field or fighting for that final spot: Two more left with the Dodgers (90-57 entering Saturday) on Saturday and Sunday; a nine-game road trip that goes through the Arizona Diamondbacks (79-69, half game back of third wild card), San Diego Padres (79-68, third wild card) and Chicago Cubs (82-66, tied for top wild card); and a three-game series at home against the Atlanta Braves (87-61, leading NL East).

“Right now,” McCullough said, “I’m just as much concerned as just going here and trying to get a win and hopefully we can have that springboard us into you know another winning series here at home.”

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That didn’t happen on Friday. Miami fell behind 2-0 early against the Dodgers and starter Blake Snell before breaking up the shutout with an Agustin Ramirez RBI double in the sixth off reliever Evan Phillips to cut the deficit to 2-1.

But everything unraveled for Miami in the seventh. Reliever Victor Vodnik logged two quick outs before loading the bases on a pair of walks to Tommy Edman and Mookie Betts with a Max Muncy single sandwiched between them. McCullough then pulled Vodnik for Cade Gibson to get the left-on-left matchup with Kyle Tucker.

Tucker sent the third pitch he saw, a near middle-middle 79.5 mph sweeper, a projected 395 feet to right-center for a grand slam to push Los Angeles’ lead to 6-2.

Tucker went 3 for 3 with a sacrifice fly and finished a double shy of the cycle.

“He just wasn’t able to finish it,” McCullough said of Vodnik. “A couple walks hurt. And then we take a shot with Gibby there just to figure this is kind of the game right here. We’re down a run, and Tucker’s a terrific hitter, handles lefties well. He’s good. Independent of how maybe this season has gone, he’s still a fantastic hitter and has been for a long time. He got a hanging breaking ball and turned the game for them.”

And kept the Marlins spiraling down the stretch.

Miami has just one series win in its past five attempts. A last-ditch effort for a playoff spot appears all but futile.

“Certainly not as great [of a shot] as it was three days ago, five days ago,” McCullough said, ”but it’s the spot we’re in.”

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This story was originally published September 11, 2026 at 10:50 PM.