MIAMI — One night after Miguel Vargas turned loanDepot park into his stage, the Miami Marlins took it back.
Liam Hicks drove in two runs. Owen Caissie added two more. Griffin Conine delivered the final blow with a two-run homer in the eighth. The Marlins responded to Monday’s loss with a 9–2 win over the Chicago White Sox, evening the series and resetting the tone heading into Wednesday’s rubber match.
Miami is 4–1. Chicago is 1–4. After getting hit early in Game 4, the Marlins answered with pressure, depth, and mistakes forced.
Hicks keeps producing
Liam Hicks is the early story of the Marlins’ season.
The Rule 5 pickup from Detroit now has eight RBIs through five games — the most in Major League Baseball. In the fourth inning Tuesday, with Miami still searching for its first hit, Hicks delivered the swing that flipped the game, driving a double down the first-base line to score Xavier Edwards and Agustín Ramírez.
Through five games, Hicks has been more than a surprise — he has been the Marlins’ most consistent run producer, delivering in the exact spots where Miami needed contact.
The fourth inning changed everything
For three innings, Miami had nothing. No hits, no traffic, no pressure against the often-challenged Erick Fedde.
Then the fourth unraveled everything.
Edwards singled for Miami’s first hit. Ramírez followed with a double. Hicks drove them both in. From there, the inning turned chaotic.
Owen Caissie singled and scored on a throwing error by Luisangel Acuña. Heriberto Hernández followed with a single, and Acuña’s second throwing error of the inning brought another run home. In minutes, a 2–0 deficit became a 4–2 lead.
Fedde had kept Chicago in control early. The fourth inning took it away — and Miami didn’t give it back.
Depth extended the lead
The Marlins continued to apply pressure late.
In the seventh, Graham Pauley dropped down a bunt that forced another defensive mistake, allowing a run to score. Jakob Marsee added a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 6–2.
Conine’s two-run homer in the eighth — his first of the season — sealed it, a line drive into right-center that capped a nine-run night on nine hits.
After going 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position in Game 4, Miami went 4-for-9 Tuesday and stranded only three runners. The offense didn’t just show up — it converted.
Bullpen locks it down
Janson Junk gave the Marlins a workable start, allowing two runs over 4⅓ innings with five strikeouts. Andrew Nardi recorded two quick outs. Anthony Bender (1–0) delivered 1⅔ scoreless innings. Calvin Faucher handled the eighth cleanly. Pete Fairbanks struck out the side in the ninth.
After the fourth inning, Chicago never threatened again.
What it sets up
The series is tied. The response is complete. Now comes the game that matters most.
Wednesday’s finale sets up a rubber match with Miami handing the ball to its ace, Sandy Alcantara, opposite Shane Smith, who enters with a 16.20 ERA after a difficult opening outing.
For the Marlins, the formula remains clear: pressure the defense, trust the depth, and let the bullpen close it.
For one night, though, the message was simpler.
After getting embarrassed at home, Miami answered — and took the series back.
