Assessing How Marlins’ Remarkable Month of June Changed Its Fortunes

The Miami Marlins have secured their best June in franchise history. It takes a little bit of everything that made this happen. Miguel Mike Medina|

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Miami Marlins

The Miami Marlins are the hottest team in baseball right now. The Marlins defeated the Colorado Rockies, 10-7, on Monday night.

With this victory, Miami secured a 19-6 record, the best in franchise history.

The @Marlins' 19-6 record in June is the best in baseball! pic.twitter.com/7cCn7B5p51
— MLB (@MLB) June 30, 2026

Marlins Making History and Playing Outstanding

Miami Marlins shortstop Otto Lopez | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

The Marlins are just the third team in baseball this season to reach at least 19 wins in a particular month. The Atlanta Braves won 19 games in April, the Milwaukee Brewers won 19 games in May, and now the Marlins have joined the crowd.

It took a little bit of everything to accomplish these goals. Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara remained undefeated in June with a 6-0 record. The Marlins are currently tied for third place in the NL wild card.

How about Griffin Conine? Here's a player who has fought for playing time and overcome injuries. The 28-year-old outfielder made a statement on Monday night at Coors Field when he clobbered a three-run home run to left, leading to the Marlins' 6- 5 victory in the top of the fifth inning. His home run was 433 feet long and marked his third of the season.

GRIFF OBLITERATES A BASEBALL pic.twitter.com/otyYkCD6Oi
— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) June 30, 2026

Two years ago, Conine made his debut in Coors Field. Two years later, he hit the farthest ball of the season at the stadium so far.

Infielder Javier Sanoja continues to hit hot. He delivered a big three-run triple to clear the bases in the seventh inning. Sanoja finished going 3-for-5. His at-bat was huge because it gave the Marlins that extra insurance run. All he was missing was a home run to complete the cycle. Sanoja has a lot of momentum right now, and he must maintain that aggression at the plate.

It's not just one player; it's every single player that steps up on every different night. In Monday night's game, there were nine Marlins who contributed to at least one hit, and five hitters delivered one RBI.

For a team that wants to succeed and go the distance, everyone will need to understand their roles and play with confidence. No confidence, no wins. We are seeing a young Marlins team that is having fun playing for each other and for their skipper, Clayton McCullough. The Marlins are rising, and they are playing with a chip on their shoulder.

No one has forgotten what they showed the world in the second half last season, but this is a much better story and better team.

Published 10 minutes ago Miguel Medina

MIGUEL MIKE MEDINA

After graduating from City College of New York in 2014, Miguel created his own blog. Since 2021, he has written for FanSided, where he covered the Toronto Blue Jays, College Football and Utah Mammoth hockey team. He also wrote for Miami Heat on SI and Cleveland Sports Talk. Miguel is the creator and host of his podcast, Baseball Heat Podcast with Mike.

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Willson Contreras breaks down in tears after home run, gets ejected the next inning

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Willson Contreras breaks down in tears after home run, gets ejected the next inning

Willson Contreras argues with an umpire after getting ejecting in the second inning against the Washington Nationals at Fenway Park. Jaiden Tripi / Getty Images

By Jen McCaffreyJune 29, 2026 Updated 11:21 pm EDT

BOSTON — In the span of two innings, Willson Contreras hit a monstrous three-run homer for the Boston Red Sox, broke down in tears in the dugout with his native Venezuela on his mind, and then was ejected the following inning after striking out for tapping his helmet.

Throughout his career, Contreras has played with emotion.

But this past week has been particularly tough for Contreras, who’s been raising money for Venezuelan earthquake victims and speaking passionately about his home country. Contreras has the letters “VZ” embroidered on his hat, as do fellow Venezuelan teammates Wilyer Abreu, Carlos Narváez and Ranger Suarez, who started Monday’s game. The Red Sox have five Venezuelans on their roster, including utility man Andruw Monasterio.

“He’s going through a lot,” interim manager Chad Tracy said of Contreras. “They all are.”

Venezuela was hit by 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes on Wednesday. The death toll released by the Venezuelan government is over 1,700 and is expected to rise.

With the Red Sox trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the first, Contreras crushed a 421-foot homer over the wall in left field at Fenway Park to take the lead. He threw his bat with force and screamed “Venezuela” as he ran to first base.

“I think it’s just the emotional part of Venezuela that got to me, got the best out of me,” Contreras said after a 6-3 win over the Washington Nationals, a season-high fifth win in a row for the Red Sox. “I wasn’t feeling good the whole day, I was kind of down, sad and I hit a homer, of course. I tried to help my dugout, but the first thing that I said was it’s for Venezuela. Of course, I’m helping the team to win, and it’s good, but I think every homer from now on is going to be for the Red Sox and for Venezuela.”

Willson Contreras OVER THE MONSTER 😤 pic.twitter.com/Dn4xtRUEOD

— MLB (@MLB) June 29, 2026

Back in the dugout, Contreras sat on the bench and broke down, his head in his hands. Abreu and Narváez came over to hug him, as did interim manager Chad Tracy.

Willson Contreras was emotional after his HR 💛 pic.twitter.com/kLHDWqf9hZ

— NESN (@NESN) June 29, 2026

But in the bottom of the second, Contreras came to the plate again, this time striking out on a check swing. Frustrated by the call, he tapped the top of his helmet as if to sarcastically challenge it as he walked back to the dugout.

First base umpire Nic Lentz seemed to take exception to the gesture and ejected Contreras. Tracy ran out for an explanation before Contreras joined him, but Lentz didn’t relent.

“Willson tapped his helmet as a gesture, like, “Hey, can we check?” you know, jokingly check the check swing, which we know you can’t,” Tracy said. “So (Lentz) felt like he showed him up and threw him out of the game. I didn’t even know until I got out there kind of what was going on.”

Lentz offered his own explanation through a pool reporter.

“I called him out on appeal for the check swing, and as he was walking back to the dugout, he started gesturing, tapping his helmet, like he wanted to challenge something that is not a challengeable call,” Lentz said. “And so, disrespect, and again gesturing towards what he thought was an incorrect call, got him removed from the game.”

Lentz said it’s an automatic ejection if an umpire deems a player is mocking him.

“Correct,” he said. “It’s a lot like drawing a line in the dirt.”

Contreras was surprised by the ejection given he felt he has a good relationship with Lentz.

“Man, kind of surprising,” Contreras said. “Nick and I have a really good relationship. We had a really good talk right before the game. He also mentioned Venezuela, which is good for him to know about it. I think it kind of surprised me because I never made eye contact with him.”

Contreras said he wasn’t tapping his head in reference to Lentz.

“I was like, yeah, I didn’t make eye contact with you, I didn’t argue, I didn’t yell, I didn’t do nothing wrong,” Contreras said. “He told me, yeah, but I have to throw you out. I was like, you didn’t have to, but you made that choice. That’s it.”

Willson Contreras was tossed by 1B Ump Nic Lentz for tapping his helmet walking back to the dugout. Absolutely insane. What a power trip. pic.twitter.com/kgRgUsU532

— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) June 29, 2026

Willson Contreras with one of the weirdest ejections I've ever seen. He even came back on the field and had a full conversation about it. pic.twitter.com/xIDasGlSRL

— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) June 29, 2026

Monasterio replaced Contreras at first base.

On Saturday night after another big home run, Contreras spoke at length about the tragedies in Venezuela.

“It’s tough, it’s tough, it’s really tough to see what’s going on in Venezuela,” he said. “On January 3, we had some good news with the USA getting to Venezuela and taking some people out. That was kind of a little bit of happiness for the Venezuelan people, and then we won the WBC, which was the biggest happiness for Venezuela. And now we got hit with two earthquakes — with two earthquakes and more than 1,000 deaths. Probably more than that. I don’t know. It’s really sad to live through this.

“It’s really hard to separate or fake that we are (feeling) good just because we have to work. I mean, we’re professional. We have to show up and work. But it’s really tough when you know what’s going on in Venezuela, you’re here playing for your team, trying to win the game, trying to perform, and at the same time, trying to seek ways to help. I wish I could be there, to be honest, to find people. That’s where my heart was.”

Contreras has been using his Instagram account to do what he can from afar.

“We are getting together donations and things that we can ship to Venezuela, and we have some types of groups helping in Venezuela, and now (the country is) denying the access to those people that want to help because they’re not part of the government,” he said. “So that’s how tough the Venezuelan situation is.”

Over the weekend, Hall of Famer David Ortiz, a native of the Dominican Republic, joined Contreras, Narváez and Abreu on Jersey Street to collect donations for Venezuela earthquake victims through the Red Sox Foundation’s Venezuelan Earthquake Disaster Relief Efforts fund.

Jul 1, 2026