The Miami Marlins are officially in uncharted waters, battling a franchise-record 12-game losing streak that, get this, started right after they swept our Seattle Mariners on July 9. Yeah, you read that right. Our M’s were the last team they beat before this historic freefall. Tonight, Miami desperately tries to halt the skid, hosting the Philadelphia Phillies at LoanDepot Park at 6:40 p.m. ET, and frankly, their chances look grim.
Miami entered the 2026 season already known for their double-digit losing streaks, having endured five since their inception in 1993. But this one? This is different. They actually clawed their way to a season-high 10 games over .500 just less than three weeks ago after overcoming a rough first two months. Then, they faced our boys. After completing that three-game sweep of the Mariners on July 9, Miami was riding high on a six-game win streak, tied for second in the NL East, just three games back of the division-leading Atlanta Braves. They haven’t won a single game since! It’s absolutely wild. They’re now 52-54, a dismal 10.5 games out. They were even six outs away from snapping an 11-game skid on Sunday, their fourth overall and first since 2011, but the San Diego Padres rallied for four runs in the eighth, handing them a brutal 5-3 setback. You gotta wonder if that sweep against the Emerald City squad was some kind of cursed victory for them.
Tonight’s pitching matchup doesn’t inspire much confidence for the Fish either. The Marlins trot out 28-year-old former Phillie Tyler Phillips, sporting a 2-5 record with a 3.52 ERA. He’s dropped six of his last seven starts, and while he’s given up two earned runs or fewer in his last three, he got torched for eight runs over just four innings against Philadelphia back on June 16. The Phillies (57-49), holding the NL’s second wild card spot, counter with 36-year-old Zack Wheeler. Wheeler, with his nasty 10-2 record and a 2.16 ERA, absolutely owns Miami. He’s 14-4 lifetime and an unblemished 5-0 in his last ten starts against them, including two this season where he allowed only one run with 17 strikeouts across 12 innings. Miami is just 2-5 against the Phillies this season. While Philly recently scuffled at 2-6 over eight games since the All-Star break, they just trounced the Yankees 11-4 on Sunday.
The stakes are clear for Miami tonight: Can they finally break this record-setting slump against a pitcher who dominates them, or will Wheeler carve them up and send them deeper into baseball misery? Elsewhere, the slumping Cleveland Guardians, on a five-game losing streak and shut out twice, face the Cincinnati Reds tonight, who despite being last in the NL Central have won four of their last five. We’ll be watching to see if our Mariners truly unleashed a baseball curse on them after that July 9th sweep.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
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