MIAMI -- Well before the Marlins snapped their five-game skid with a 5-4 victory over the Phillies on Sunday afternoon at loanDepot park, it felt like a win due to a touching pregame celebration.
Likely for the first time since Opening Day, on-field personnel from both clubs stood along the baselines to cheer on guests Malachi Jenkins, Imani Dell, Ariana Pine and Diego Gonzalez for Childhood Cancer Awareness Day.
The Marlins had partnered with Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center for a special pregame that included everything from a meet and greet with players to a lineup card delivery to a “Running the Bases” moment.
Jakob Marsee and Dell high-fived the Marlins down the third-base line, while Gonzalez went out to second base with Otto Lopez. Pine and Xavier Edwards greeted the Phillies down the first-base line.
Finally, Jenkins used Agustín Ramírez’s bat to hit a grand slam – setting off the customary fireworks in the Home Run Harbor and dimming the stadium lights – before rounding the bases with his peers. The quartet met up at home plate for a photo while receiving a standing ovation from those in attendance.
“Hats off to [Phillies manager] Rob [Thomson] and the Phillies for coming out there as well and making that a special moment, raising childhood cancer awareness and having the young kids,” said Marlins manager Clayton McCullough, who had presented customized jerseys to the children. “We had a chance to visit with them beforehand and see them out there. The excitement [Jenkins] had ... We get so caught up in the hustle and bustle, and you're in the weeds every day here with games and what's going on.
“To take a step back and have a little perspective on how lucky we are and how fortunate we are to be able to do this ... Those of us with kids, nothing you cherish more, and to put a smile on some people's faces, and to have them a part of today is certainly much bigger than our game. We're lucky to have a platform to be able to share that.”
Inside a suite with his family and friends, Jenkins excitedly recapped the events of the day while munching on popcorn. He also had decorated Javier Sanoja’s white batting gloves as part of the third annual National Coloring Book Day celebration last month.
“It feels great,” Jenkins said. “I wish I could experience all these things. I've beaten cancer, and I just finished that. I could do anything. I could play baseball, football, basketball. I could do anything.”
Jenkins was told that perhaps the group might bring good luck to the Marlins, and maybe there was something to that.
Miami captured its first lead since last Sunday’s victory in Queens by batting around in a four-run first inning. Lopez crushed a hanging slider from righty Taijuan Walker off the left-field scoreboard for a three-run homer to kick off a three-hit performance. Marlins No. 24 prospect Maximo Acosta later added a two-out RBI single.
“That was very special,” Lopez said of the pregame moment. “It was the first time I did that, and I have seen in the videos and even like TV last year. It just made me [feel] very special to be part of it.”
In a bullpen game that featured six pitchers, righty Tyler Phillips made his first start as a Marlin by serving as the opener against his former club, giving up one run over 2 2/3 innings.
Later, with Miami clinging to a 4-3 lead in the seventh, Lopez added insurance with a solo shot to center off lefty José Alvarado’s sinker for his first career multihomer game. Lopez became the sixth Marlin (12th occurrence) to record a multihomer game in 2025.
“I've been working with the hitting coaches, with my lower body and my legs, and just [rotating] a little more,” said Lopez, who made the tweak two weeks ago and is batting .368 with 11 RBIs since Aug. 28. “Just focus on those two things and just go with that mentality and not thinking too much of this or that. That's what I've been working on so far.”
Righty Lake Bachar then held off the Phillies in the ninth, allowing one run but stranding runners on the corners for the save.
“It felt long,” McCullough said of commanding a lead and ending the skid. “Felt like it had been a while. And certainly feel better to get the lead today, to be able to play downhill some for us. It's early in the game, there's a long way to go, but at least you have a little bit of a cushion. For the guys that are going out there on the mound, they still have to go out and get outs, but it did feel nice to be the first ones to strike.”