A Dominican triple. A Trinidadian table-setter. A Venezuelan answer when the game was slipping away. The Miami Marlins built a four-run lead at Yankee Stadium the same way they’re building their roster — through an international pipeline that is quietly becoming one of the most compelling stories in the early 2026 season.
They just need the pitching to catch up.
Heriberto Hernández, signed out of free agency on a minor league deal last November after years of development through the Rangers and Rays organizations, lined a two-out triple to center in the first inning, scoring Otto Lopez and Agustín Ramírez to put Miami ahead 2-0. Xavier Edwards, born in Trinidad, reached base and scored in the second. Javier Sanoja, the Venezuelan shortstop who has been everywhere in April, hit a tying two-run double off Camilo Doval in the eighth that briefly made this a different kind of night.
It wasn’t enough. The New York Yankees rallied from four runs down, got a go-ahead single from Giancarlo Stanton in the eighth, and held on for a 9-7 win — their first 7-1 start in seven seasons. Miami falls to 5-3 and drops the series two games to none heading into Sunday’s finale.
The Marlins’ global core produced. Their bullpen didn’t.
Ryan Weathers Comes Back to Bite Them
There was a subplot baked into the first inning. Ryan Weathers was facing his former team for the first time since the Marlins dealt him to New York on January 13. He allowed three runs and six hits in 3⅔ innings — a rough homecoming that Miami turned into early momentum and, for a few innings, looked like it might define the game.
Max Meyer kept it that way. The right-hander held New York to two runs through 4⅓ innings, working off his slider and four-seam fastball. The Marlins led 4-2 when he exited.
Then the bullpen took over.
New York Yankees pitcher Ryan Weathers throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Saturday, April 4, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
The Pipeline Produces — The Back End Doesn’t Hold
Cody Bellinger’s two-run homer in the fifth — 394 feet to right-center at 105.5 mph — cut the lead to 4-2. A three-run sixth, started by Trent Grisham’s RBI single and extended by an Aaron Judge tying single off Anthony Bender, flipped it to 5-4. The Marlins answered. Sanoja’s double in the eighth knotted it at six.
Then Michael Petersen walked three batters and Stanton singled through the left side. Ballgame.
Petersen takes the loss. Miami’s pitchers have now walked 21 batters in two games at Yankee Stadium. Clayton McCullough said before the series opener: “We win this series if we throw strikes.” Through two games, the Marlins have thrown anything but.
