Turn the Page: Marlins Try to Salvage Braves Finale Before Mets Series Takes Over Miami
Wednesday’s 9-1 disaster exposed some problems — now the Marlins have one game left to clean things up before New York rolls into town
By Sportwire Miami South Florida Sports Staff | Thursday, May 21, 2026 | LoanDepot Park, Miami, FL
Wednesday night got ugly fast.
Chris Sale looked like vintage Chris Sale, Austin Riley finally broke out, and the Braves steamrolled Miami 9-1 in a game that felt over long before the final out. The Marlins managed only four hits, the bullpen got stretched again, and Atlanta reminded everybody why they’re still one of the toughest teams in baseball when their lineup starts clicking.
But baseball doesn’t wait around for pity parties.
Tonight, the Marlins get one more crack at Atlanta in the series finale at LoanDepot Park before attention shifts to a much bigger problem arriving Friday night: the New York Mets.
And honestly, that Mets series suddenly feels huge.
First up, though, Miami needs to avoid limping into it.
The Marlins entered this four-game set by smashing Atlanta 12-0 in the opener, a game that had fans thinking maybe this team was finally turning a corner. Then reality hit back. Miami dropped the next two games, including Wednesday’s blowout, and now tonight becomes about damage control as much as standings.
A win gives Miami a respectable split against one of the National League’s best teams. A loss means heading into the weekend having dropped three of four while the pitching staff looks increasingly exhausted.
That’s the real issue right now.
The bullpen has been carrying a heavy workload all series, and Wednesday didn’t help. Janson Junk fell to 2-5 after allowing eight hits over five innings, and while he managed to eat some innings, Atlanta never really let Miami settle into the game. The Marlins desperately need length from tonight’s starter because the relievers cannot afford another night of cleanup duty with the Mets arriving less than 24 hours later.
Then comes New York.
The Mets open a three-game series at LoanDepot Park on Friday night, and this is exactly the kind of stretch that can either stabilize a season or send it drifting further below .500.
Friday’s opener features one of the better pitching matchups Miami fans have seen in weeks. Freddy Peralta takes the mound for New York against Eury Pérez for Miami. That’s where the spotlight immediately lands.
Pérez has shown flashes of being dominant this season, the kind of electric arm that can completely flip a series when he’s locked in. Miami needs that version of him Friday night because this Mets lineup isn’t forgiving. Juan Soto remains the centerpiece, and New York’s pitching staff enters the series with a 3.85 ERA, good for 10th in Major League Baseball.
This is not a team that gives away games.
The frustrating part for Miami is the inconsistency. One night the offense explodes for 12 runs. The next night it disappears completely. Against Atlanta, fans saw both extremes in the same series. Against the Mets, that kind of volatility becomes dangerous.
Miami needs better at-bats from top to bottom. Xavier Edwards has to keep setting the tone. Heriberto Hernández and Javier Sanoja need to provide steadier production instead of long cold stretches mixed with isolated big innings. The lineup has shown it can score. The problem is sustaining pressure for more than one game at a time.
And while Max Meyer may not pitch this weekend, the organization knows he remains the backbone of this rotation. Keeping him healthy and on schedule matters just as much as anything happening over the next four days.
At 22-28 and sitting fourth in the NL East, the Marlins are running out of room for sloppy stretches. Home games matter now. Momentum matters now. Division games matter now.
The Braves humbled them Wednesday.
The Mets arrive Friday.
Now Miami has to show whether that ugly loss was just one bad night — or the start of something worse.
