Marlins Erase Four-Run Deficit, Stun Royals 9-6 in Kansas City
Miami trailed 6-2 heading into the fifth inning and still won by three. Four home runs in the final four innings — including back-to-back shots in the ninth — turned a near-loss into a 9-6 statement.
The first inning was a disaster for both starting pitchers and a preview of the chaos to come. Miami struck first: Lopez tripled to left to score Hernández, then Stowers singled to center to make it 2-0. Kansas City answered immediately and then some — Jensen went deep to right (414 feet), Caglianone doubled to score Witt Jr. to tie it, and then Perez launched a two-run shot to left center (392 feet) to flip the lead to 4-2. Massey added a run-scoring double to center before the inning was over, and just like that KC led 5-2 after one. Noah Cameron had surrendered two runs but his offense had bailed him out in a big way.
Kansas City looked in control through four innings, and Jensen's second home run of the night — a 398-foot shot to right in the fourth — pushed the lead to 6-3. That's when Miami started chipping. Hernández hit a ground rule double in the fifth to score Serna and make it 6-4. Then came the sixth, and the moment that flipped this game on its head: Conine singled to right to score Sanoja, moving Marsee to third — and the win probability swung from 67% to 48% in Kansas City's favor, a 19-point collapse on a single swing. Serna followed with a sacrifice fly to center to tie it at six, and Hernández doubled to center to score Conine and give Miami its first lead since the first inning. Three runs, no margin for error, and suddenly the Royals were chasing.
The story of the night, though, was what Miami's lineup did in the ninth. Sanoja — who finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored — homered to left center (394 feet) to make it 8-6, and Marsee immediately followed with a shot to right center (392 feet) to cap the scoring at 9-6. Back-to-back home runs to close out a comeback win is the kind of sequence that looks like a team playing with genuine confidence, not just catching breaks. Carter Jensen went 2-for-4 with two home runs and two RBI for Kansas City and deserved a better fate. Javier Sanoja and Jakob Marsee each homered in the ninth, Heriberto Hernandez drove in two runs without a home run, and Kyle Stowers added a solo shot in the third. Miami's offense simply had more answers, and Kansas City's bullpen — which entered holding a three-run lead — had none.