Dodgers 6, Marlins 2: Tucker's Grand Slam in the Seventh

A sacrifice fly, then a slam that ended it

September 11, 2026 - Miami - Kyle Tucker had already driven in the first run on a sacrifice fly when he came up in the seventh with the bases loaded. He hit a grand slam to right-center, his 14th homer, and the Los Angeles Dodgers turned a 2-1 game into a 6-1 lead they did not give back. They beat the Miami Marlins 6-2 at loanDepot park.

The roof was closed. It was 72 degrees inside. Attendance was 29,370. First pitch was 7:11 p.m. The game lasted 2 hours, 54 minutes. Blake Snell (4-1) worked 5 2/3 innings, four hits, one run, two walks, eight strikeouts, 101 pitches. Tucker went 3-for-3 with a triple, a homer, a sacrifice fly, two runs, and five RBI. The rest of the Los Angeles order did not need to pile on.

The Dodgers are 90-57. Miami is 72-76. A Friday in September with the roof shut is not a pennant night. It is a night a first-place club lets one hitter finish a game that Ryan Gusto had kept close for six innings.

Edman scored first. Ramírez made it 2-1.

Tommy Edman walked in the third. Tucker then flied to left, Edman tagging. 1-0. One run without a hit in the inning that mattered. Gusto (1-5) had already thrown enough strikes to make a 1-0 feel like a game Miami could steal.

Tucker tripled later and scored on a Will Smith single in the sixth. 2-0. Max Muncy was already collecting hits. Smith finally put a ball in the outfield that counted. Gusto had lasted into the sixth at two runs. He finished six innings, five hits, two runs, three walks, three strikeouts, 89 pitches. He did not get to pitch the seventh.

Javier Sanoja tripled and stole a base. Agustín Ramírez doubled him home in the sixth, his ninth double. 2-1. Snell had thrown 101 pitches and still had the lead. Evan Phillips recorded an out and a hold. The Marlins had 10 hits on the night and still spent most of it one swing from tying a game they never tied.

Four in the seventh, then Caissie's fly

Victor Vodnik walked into the seventh and could not throw the inning away fast enough. Edman walked. Muncy was on. Mookie Betts reached. Cade Gibson came in with the bases loaded and one out. Tucker then hit the slam to right-center. 6-1. Four runs. One swing. Gibson lasted a third of an inning, one hit, one run, one homer, seven pitches. Vodnik was charged with three of the four.

Otto Lopez went 4-for-5 and did not drive in a run. That is a box-score tease. Sanoja scored again in the eighth on an Owen Caissie sacrifice fly, Teoscar Hernández catching it in left. 6-2. Blake Treinen allowed the run in a one-inning look. Brock Stewart had thrown a scoreless inning. Edgardo Henriquez added another scoreless inning. Treinen allowed the eighth-inning run.

Dax Fulton threw two scoreless for Miami after the slam. The Marlins left 10 on. Jakob Marsee went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts. Kyle Stowers walked twice. Lopez's four hits sat in a 2-run night. Ten hits, two runs, and a grand slam they could not answer.

Three hits, five RBI, a 90-win club

Tucker finished 3-for-3 with a walk-free line that still included a triple, a homer, and a sacrifice fly. Five RBI. Two runs. Muncy went 3-for-4 with a walk and a run. Smith had the RBI single. Edman walked twice, scored twice, and went 0-for-3. Betts walked and scored on the slam. Enrique Hernández went 0-for-4. Teoscar Hernández went 0-for-4. Josue De Paula walked and did not hit. The Dodgers had eight hits. Tucker had three of them and all of the damage that mattered.

Snell's eight strikeouts in 5 2/3 are why Los Angeles could wait until the seventh. Gusto's six innings are why it was still 2-1 when Tucker came up. A 90-57 club does not need every starter to hit. It needs one extra-base night from the middle of the order and a left-hander who can miss bats until the slam arrives.

Los Angeles keeps the best record in the National League within reach of Milwaukee. Miami keeps playing out a 72-76 that has more hits than runs on nights like this. Tucker's 14th was the difference. The sacrifice fly in the third was the preview.

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) put Tucker at 15 hitting fantasy points, tied with Brice Turang for the Friday hitter lead. Snell checked in at 17.66 pitching FP. Muncy had 5. Los Angeles finished with 13 team FP. Miami finished at minus-3.

Fantasy points measure the night under platform scoring rules. Share prices also move with traders through dynamic pricing. They are related. They are not the same number.

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*Sources: ESPN box score, MLB.com Gameday wrap, MLB.com schedule, and AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*