BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
There have always been some interesting moments when the Miami Marlins and San Francisco Giants square off through the years.
In 2003, I attended the Marlins clinching victory when the Florida Marlins defeated the Giants 7-6 in the fourth game to win the series 3-1. But the play that will always be remembered was when J.T. Snow was in scoring position with two men on.
He tried to score on a single to left by Jeffrey Hammond. Jeff Connie’s throw was on target, and Ivan Rodriguez tagged snow at the plate as Snow barreled into him. Rodriguez fell backwards, and, as he rose, showed that he had held on to the ball, preserving the Marlins win.
Miami would defeat the Chicago Cubs in the NLCS and went on to win the World Series.
Since that game, I’ve always tried to see these squads face each other and these series’ have always been entertaining. But every time I see these teams, the memories always stand out in my mind watching Barry Bonds lose in the post-season and I was in the Marlins clubhouse getting doused by champagne.
I had no interest in dealing with Bonds because of his arrogant demeanor, plus at the time my Gastonia Rangers colleague Wayne Rosenthal was Miami’s pitching coach and we proceeded to have a blast hanging out.
Earlier this month, we saw a pair of games with these two teams.
On May 31, 2025, a guy, who I interviewed at the All-Star Game in Miami, Robbie Ray, who pitched for the Seattle Mariners at the time, was on the hill for the Giants.
He entered the game with a 7-0 record with a 2.56 ERA. He faced Edward Cabrera (1-1, 4.73 ERA).
Before the game, I asked Marlins Manager Clayton McCullough his thoughts about facing a hurler who has overcome Tommy John Surgery and is pitching outstanding.
You can hear that interview in this story, in addition to the fact that the skipper also answered a question that I presented about future Hall of Fame pitcher Justin Verlander.
This contest turned out to be a pitchers duel as Cabrera pitched 5.2 innings of scoreless baseball. The Marlins scored the only run of the game in the second to win the contest 1-0. The bullpen kept to Giants off the scoreboard the rest of the way.
Ray was tremendous as he pitched seven innings, allowed just two hits, walked three and stuck out nine. He is currently 8-2 with a 2.68 ERA with 97 strikeouts.
On Sunday, June 1, the Giants bounced back and won the game 4-2. They scored four runs off of Miami starter and loser Ryan Weathers, who hurled six innings and yielded four runs.
But the bright spot for Miami was the play of Marlins second baseman Xavier Edwards. He had a franchise record setting afternoon by going 5-5 with five hits. He’s just an amazing player and it seems like every time I see him, he plays spectacular.
When I saw him play last year in Milwaukee, he recorded the first cycle in team history.
Hayden Birdsong earned the win for the Giants and his record improved to 3-1 while Camilo Doval notched his seventh save.
The Marlins lost the first game of the series as Cal Quantrill, the author of a game that we attended when he pitched “The Immaculate Inning” was on the wrong end of a 2-0 decision. He pitched five innings, gave up eight hits, two runs but amassed seven strikeouts with just one walk.
The Giants won the series 2-1.
Since this series, the Giants swung a trade with the Boston Red Sox and acquired Rafael Devers to bolster their offense.
We talked about this on Monday Night’s Edition of 108 Stitches, Baseball Talk which is included in the story.
To date, the Giants record is 41-32 and they’re 3.5 games back in second place behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Western Division.
Meanwhile, Miami is 29-42 and is in fifth place in the National League East, 15 games behind division leader the New York Mets.
McCullough was named as a coach to the National League All-Star Game in Atlanta joining Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts. Before taking the Miami job, McCullough earned a World Series title with Roberts.
The game will take place on July 15 at Atlanta’s Truist Park.
My next trip to Miami will be the weekend of July 19-20, one of those games as the Fish host the Kansas City Royals. Former Florida Gator Jac Caglianone comes to town. He was the No.6 overall player in the 2024 MLB Draft.
Baseball Expert Harold Reynold describes him “as a player that we’re going to be talking about this guy for years to come.”
I’ll be taking my first trip across the Big Pond, with stops in London, England, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway and Iceland.
Scott Morganroth can be reached at southfloridatribune@gmail.com. You can follow him on Twitter/X @TribuneSouth. To see his broadcasts, there is no charge to subscribe to the South Florida Tribune You Tube Channel.
Finally, Scott wrote a book, “Lessons From The Microphone” which talks about Old School Media Vs New School Media. It’s a good read for everyone especially for students looking to get into the industry. This can be purchased at Amazon/Kindle and Barnes & Noble.
