MIAMI — Two outs. Bottom of the ninth. Miami trailing by one. Javier Sanoja had just doubled to center, and Owen Caissie stepped to the plate as a pinch hitter.
Victor Vodnik threw a changeup. Caissie stayed back and drove it over the wall in right center field. Two-run walk-off homer. Marlins win 4–3. Series sweep. The first 3–0 start for Miami since 2009.
One day after delivering the go-ahead single in Game 2, the 23-year-old from Burlington, Ontario finished the job again — this time with one swing, on one pitch, as his teammates flooded out of the dugout to mob him at home plate.
“It feels awesome. I mean, this team’s great,” Caissie said, still catching his breath. His approach at the plate? Simple. “Hit the ball. Get it middle and hit the ball.” Then, on the weekend as a whole: “We have a lot of fun and we’re gonna win ball games.”
How the Rockies took the lead — and how Miami chased it
Max Meyer did not get off to the start the Marlins wanted for his 2026 season debut. Jordan Beck greeted him in the first inning with a three-run double — Hunter Goodman, Willi Castro, and TJ Rumfield all reaching before Beck put a ball into left field — and just like that Miami was down 3–0 before a Marlin had scored.
Meyer settled after that. He worked five innings, struck out five, and held Colorado scoreless from the second inning through the fifth. The first-inning eruption inflated his final line, but his stuff was present. He gave the Marlins a chance. That was enough.
Miami answered immediately. Otto Lopez doubled home Jakob Marsee in the bottom of the first to make it 3–1. In the second, Xavier Edwards singled, stole second, and scored on a Deyvison De Los Santos double — De Los Santos’s first major league hit, in his first major league at-bat, one day after being recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville. Austin Slater added a sacrifice fly to pull Miami within 3–2, and that’s where it stayed for the next six innings.
José Quintana, 37 years old and in his 15th major league season, gave Colorado exactly what they needed — 4⅓ innings of two-run ball, escaping jams, keeping the game close. He walked four but allowed only four hits. Antonio Senzatela followed and was the sharpest arm Colorado deployed: 2⅔ innings, three strikeouts, no runs.
The bullpen held the door open
Tyler Phillips replaced Meyer in the sixth and delivered two clean innings — one hit, two strikeouts, no runs. John King followed with a scoreless eighth, two more strikeouts. Through nine innings, Miami’s pitchers after that first inning allowed Colorado nothing.
The eighth inning nearly ended Miami’s chances early, in the wrong way. With the bases loaded and one out, Victor Vodnik came in and struck out Heriberto Hernández on a full count to strand the runners and preserve Colorado’s 3–2 lead. It looked like the escape that would hold.
It didn’t.
First pitch. Changeup. Gone.
The ninth began with Xavier Edwards singling. Liam Hicks, pinch hitting, lined into an unassisted double play at first — and suddenly Miami was down to its last out with nobody on.
Sanoja stepped in and lined a double to center. Caissie came up.
First pitch. Changeup. Gone.
Caissie’s homer was his first of 2026 and his first as a Marlin. Across the three-game series he went 5-for-10 with two doubles, the walk-off homer, and four RBI. In Game 2 he delivered the go-ahead single in the eighth. In Game 3 he ended it entirely, one pitch into his at-bat, with two outs and everything on the line.
The player the Marlins traded Edward Cabrera to get is already carrying this lineup when it matters.
A few things worth noting
Deyvison De Los Santos doubled in his first major league at-bat on Sunday, one day after being recalled from Triple-A. He is here because Christopher Morel went on the 10-day IL with a left oblique strain — organizational depth that had to step in and delivered immediately.
Javier Sanoja, who received his Gold Glove Award in a pregame ceremony on Saturday, went 4-for-12 in the series with two doubles and was the one who set the table for the walk-off. The defense was already acknowledged. The bat kept showing up too.
Michael Petersen closed with a perfect ninth — two strikeouts, nine pitches — to earn the win. Miami’s bullpen across the three-game series allowed one run in 12 innings. This team can close games. They proved it three times in three days.
Attendance Sunday was 17,355, up from Saturday’s 10,160. Winning draws people back.
Eury Pérez Strikes Out Eight as Marlins Beat Rockies 4–3, Owen Caissie Delivers Late
The series, the start, what it means
Three games. Three wins. All decided late. Miami won Game 1 on Sandy Alcantara’s command and a late Caissie double. Game 2 on Eury Pérez striking out eight and a Caissie go-ahead single in the eighth. Game 3 on a walk-off homer, two outs, first pitch, Caissie.
The Marlins are 3–0, lead the NL East, and have already given their fans a reason to believe in the first weekend of the season. One series does not define 162 games. But the 2009 Marlins — the last Miami team to start 3–0 — went on to finish 87–75. The ceiling is not the basement.
Up next
Miami opens a three-game home series against the Chicago White Sox on Monday, with Chris Paddack starting for the Marlins against Davis Martin. The opening series is done. Owen Caissie ended it. The Marlins are just getting started.
Photo: Miami Marlins players celebrate with a Gatorade shower for Owen Caissie after his walk-off two-run home run completed a sweep of the Colorado Rockies at loanDepot park, Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP PhotoLynne Sladky) Graphic World Baseball Network
