Breaking News: Marlins’ Kyle Stowers walks off Royals with monster bash
The Miami Marlins caught fire in late June. The team pulled itself out of the NL East cellar with an impressive eight-game winning streak, powered in large part by Kyle Stowers. Now the Marlins have won three straight after a dramatic victory over the Kansas City Royals Friday night. Stowers delivered once again for Miami, crushing a walk-off, two-run homer in the 10th inning. The Marlins won the first game of the second half, 8-7. The extra-inning blast was Stowers’ second home run of the game as he collected three hits and five RBI against the Royals on Friday.
The Marlins left fielder is in the midst of a breakout season and his last three games have been particularly memorable. Stowers made his first All-Star Game this year as Miami’s sole representative. And he helped the National League win by adding one home run in the tie-breaking swing-off before Kyle Schwarber’s history-making performance. But the Midsummer Classic was sandwiched between two epic regular season games for the young Marlin. In the final game before the All-Star break, Stowers belted three home runs and drove in six as Miami beat the Baltimore Orioles. And in the team’s first game back from the break, Stowers smacked two more long balls, knocking in five more runs.
Stowers now has eight hits, five homers and 11 RBI in his last two games for the Marlins, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. In his first season as a starter, the 27-year-old outfielder is hitting .298 with a .935 OPS. He has 21 home runs, 59 RBI, 48 runs scored and 2.5 bWAR in 92 games. And Stowers has demonstrated a flair for the dramatic. He delivered a walk-off single for Miami on Opening Day.
Not much was expected of the Marlins this year, following a 100-loss season in 2024. And Miami lived up to those low expectations with a slow start. But the team has surged this summer.
Since June 22, the Marlins have gone 15-6. The hot streak helped the team improve to 45-51 on the season and pull within 7.5 games of a Wild Card spot. And Stowers has been unconscious during that stretch. He’s slashing .381/.467/.873 with nine home runs and 20 RBI in his last 20 games