MIAMI (AP) — The Miami Marlins lost a franchise-record 12th straight game on Sunday, and the record-breaker might have been the most painful of the skid.
Six outs from ending their slide, the Marlins unraveled. The San Diego Padres erased a two-run deficit with a four-run eighth inning and won 5-3.
“To come in here every day and cry about it and make excuses, I don’t know what that’s going to do,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. “We have a very prideful group that is certainly upset, frustrated, angry about how things are going. We’re the only ones that can change that.”
Three previous times in franchise history the Marlins lost 11 straight before ending the slide. They did it twice, on two separate stretches, in 1998 when the club lost 108 games, and again in June 2011.
“Right now, it just feels a little bit like we’re playing roulette and somehow it hits red 12 times in a row,” Marlins slugger Kyle Stowers said. “I think what hurts the most is we can’t try any harder.”
Before the late meltdown Sunday, the Marlins were in position for celebratory postgame handshakes. Miami scored two runs in the second and Stowers homered in the third for a 3-0 lead.
But, after starter Janson Junk limited the Padres to one run and three relievers kept them off the board, Lake Bachar couldn’t continue the trend when he was called to pitch the eighth.
Manny Machado hit a two-run homer to tie it at 3, and Jackson Merrill followed with a go-ahead solo shot. Luis Campusano added an RBI single to add to the misery.
Jeers from the crowd of 21,675 were noticeable after the third out ended the inning. Miami has not won since an 8-4 victory over Seattle on July 9.
“I understand fans’ frustrations, sure. I’d be frustrated if I were a fan, too,” McCullough said. “But nobody is more frustrated than we are. These guys every day come in here, attacking each day with the best to come out there and win.”
The Marlins had done plenty of winning before the All-Star break and were at 52-42 and three games behind NL East-leading Atlanta. They also had the third NL wild-card spot.
But the unraveling began in the weekend home series against Cleveland prior to the break. With the exception of Saturday’s 7-2 to loss against San Diego, Miami has lost the other 11 games by three runs or less.
Miami’s bats have gone silent during the skid. The Marlins are hitting .208 with a .607 OPS. On Sunday, Stowers had two of Miami’s five hits.
“How we’ve been playing, we’ve been playing good enough to win, but we’re one play short most of the nights,” Stowers said. “I think we’re still in a good spot. I still love our chances. We love this group. It’s just the micro level of losing these many times sucks.”
The Marlins’ next opportunity to end the skid will be Monday, when they open a three-game home series against division rival Philadelphia. Phillies ace Zack Wheeler is scheduled to start.
“It’s going to be staring at us again,” McCullough said. “We have to meet this head on.”
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