MIAMI — The Marlins played a perfect game for nine innings. Not perfect as in flawless — they committed two errors, left seven on base, and watched Janson Junk labor through five innings of moderate quality. But perfect in the sense that mattered: they tied it in the sixth, held the Brewers, and brought a 4-4 game into the tenth.
Then Xavier Edwards threw the baseball into left field and the game was over.
Milwaukee beat Miami 7-5 in ten innings Friday night at loanDepot park. The Marlins fell to 9-11. Third straight loss.
Milwaukee Brewers’ Joey Ortiz (3) is high-fived in the dugout after scoring on a double hit by Garrett Mitchell during the tenth inning of a baseball game, Friday, April 17, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
The Otto Lopez Moment
Down 4-1 with two outs in the sixth, Xavier Edwards doubled off Coleman Crow. DL Hall entered. Otto Lopez — the Dominican infielder who has quietly been Miami’s most reliable offensive player this season — drove the first pitch he saw 402 feet to center field. Two runs. 4-3 game.
It was Lopez’s third home run of the year. His eighth-inning OPS this season is over 1.000. He keeps producing in the moments that matter, which is why the night’s ending hurt as much as it did.
Agustín Ramírez then doubled in the eighth inning off Angel Zerpa — a Venezuelan pitcher facing a Dominican catcher on a team with a Panamanian shortstop watching from the dugout — to score Edwards and tie it at 4. Miami had clawed back from three runs down in the late innings against a Milwaukee bullpen that entered the series having won six straight.
Miami Marlins relief pitcher Calvin Faucher (53) stands on the mound during the tenth inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Friday, April 17, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Pete Fairbanks put up a clean ninth. The game was tied. The Marlins had momentum.
Miami Marlins’ Otto Lopez (6) runs the bases after hitting a two run home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Friday, April 17, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
The Tenth
Calvin Faucher entered for the tenth with Brice Turang on second via the ghost runner rule. Gary Sánchez walked. Joey Ortiz pinch ran. Jake Bauers singled, loading the bases. Luis Rengifo hit a fielder’s choice — and Edwards, fielding the ball at second, threw it into left field. Turang scored. The bases were still loaded.
Garrett Mitchell doubled. Two more runs scored. 7-4. The Marlins got one back on a Trevor Megill wild pitch in the bottom half, but it was cosmetic. 7-5 final.
Faucher (1-2) took the loss. The error was Edwards’. The outcome belonged to both.
Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Trevor Megill reacts after getting the final out during the tenth inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Friday, April 17, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
The Brewers Context
Milwaukee came into Miami having just snapped a six-game losing streak with back-to-back wins over Toronto — one won by hitting a single ball out of the infield in a two-run eighth, one won by bunting three consecutive times in the seventh. This is a Brewers team without Jackson Chourio, Christian Yelich, and Andrew Vaughn due to injury. They are playing without their best hitters and still finding ways to win close games.
Garrett Mitchell — US-born, California product — drove in three runs and scored the winning run. Luis Rengifo ?? (Venezuela) was the catalyst in both the fourth-inning three-run burst and the tenth-inning rally. The Venezuelan infielder is hitting .154 on the season but has been in the middle of every key Brewers rally this series.
The International Read
Lopez (?? Dominican Republic): the home run, the triple, 3-for-5, 2 RBI. He was the only reason this game was close. Ramírez (??): the eighth-inning double that tied the game. Edwards (US/Mexico dual): the walk that set up the tie, the error that ended the night. Two sides of the same player in one game.
On Milwaukee’s side: Abner Uribe (?? Dominican Republic) got the win after walking two batters in the ninth but surviving. Zerpa (?? Venezuela) blew the save in the eighth when Ramírez doubled. Carlos Rodriguez ?? (Nicaragua) did not appear in this game, but is on the active roster — the only Nicaraguan currently on any MLB 40-man. His appearance in this series is worth watching separately.
Graham Pauley left the game in the seventh inning with right oblique discomfort. The Marlins provided no immediate update. Heriberto Hernández replaced him. No update on severity.
The Honest Number
11,103 people attended Friday’s game at loanDepot park. The roof status: open. Temperature at first pitch: 79 degrees, wind in from left field, cloudy. A reasonable night for baseball in South Florida. The Marlins drew 11,103.
The series against the Brewers continues Saturday. Brandon Woodruff versus Sandy Alcántara. The Cy Young matchup the schedule is offering. That one, at least, will fill a few more seats.
International Player of the Game
?? Otto Lopez (Miami) — 3-for-5, HR, 3B, 2 RBI. The two-out homer in the sixth kept Miami in the game. His triple in the fourth set up Caissie’s sacrifice fly. On a night when the Marlins lost, Lopez was the reason they were in a position to win.
Up Next
Brandon Woodruff (1-0, 3.00) vs. Sandy Alcántara (2-1, 2.67) · Saturday April 18, 4:10 PM ET · loanDepot park · TV: Marlins.TV / Bally Sports Wisconsin · Radio: WQAM 560, WAQI 710 (Spanish). Hockey Day — jersey giveaway with special ticket package.
— MT
Miami Files #021 · World Baseball Network · Baseball Without Borders
