Marlins Survive Heim’s Late Heroics, Hold Off A’s 9-8

In a game that perfectly encapsulates everything wrong and right about baseball in 2026, the Miami Marlins escaped Oakland with a 9-8 victory on Sunday at Sutter Health Park, surviving one of the most absurd late-inning collapses imaginable. This wasn’t a masterclass. This was chaos masquerading as baseball, and somehow Miami emerged with their hands raised.

Pérez’s Perfection Nearly Sabotaged

Let’s start with what should have been the story of the day: Eury Pérez‘s seven innings of flawless baseball. The Marlins pitcher didn’t allow a hit, didn’t walk a batter (well, technically one walk ended the perfect game attempt, but that’s semantics), and struck out eight. It was the kind of performance that wins games 2-0, maybe 3-0 if the offense shows up with a pulse. Pérez was surgical, methodical, untouchable. Oakland couldn’t have looked more helpless at the plate.

And then, inexplicably, the Marlins decided to squander it.

Miami’s Bats Couldn’t Miss Early

To be fair, the Marlins’ offense was operating on another planet through six innings. Heriberto Hernández launched two homers, Otto Lopez went yard and drove in three runs across multiple at-bats, and Leo Jiménez added a two-run shot in his first homer of the season. By the sixth inning, Miami had built what felt like an insurmountable 9-1 lead. Gage Jump was a disaster for Oakland, lasting just three innings while surrendering five earned runs on eight hits and three walks. The Athletics looked dead.

But here’s where this game went sideways in the worst possible way. The Marlins’ bullpen, presumably feeling confident with an eight-run cushion, proceeded to stage one of the most spectacular collapses you’ll witness. Oakland’s eighth inning turned into a nightmare. Jonah Heim, who finished with six RBIs, smacked a grand slam to make it 9-8. Suddenly, what should have been a blowout victory became a one-run affair heading into the ninth.

Heim capped it off with a two-run single in the bottom of the ninth that nearly forced extra innings, but the Marlins’ Pete Fairbanks somehow escaped with the victory. Otto Lopez’s softly hit groundout in the top of the ninth provided just enough breathing room.

A Testament to Incompetence

This game was a masterclass in how not to close out a victory. The Marlins had Pérez throwing a perfect game, an eight-run lead, and every advantage imaginable. They still nearly lost. That’s not resilience from Oakland, that’s negligence from Miami. Heim’s four RBIs in the eighth inning alone shouldn’t have been possible against a team with a nine-run advantage.

But baseball is weird, and sometimes the team that plays the sloppiest baseball down the stretch still leaves the field with a W. The Marlins will take this victory, though they’ll spend tomorrow’s film session cringing at how they nearly handed it away. Oakland proved they can hit, but they proved it far too late. Miami survived Sunday’s madness, but they shouldn’t have had to work this hard.