The Glaring Secret to The Marlins Historic Home Winning Streak

The NL East may be out of reach, but playoff odds are inching closer toward favorable.

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With a 2-1 win over the San Francisco Giants on Father's Day afternoon, the Miami Marlins are winners of eight straight at loanDepot Park. Before Sunday night baseball between the Mets and Phillies, the Marlins have pulled themselves up by their bootstraps to be within a half-game of the final NL wild card spot, and 2.5 games behind the Cardinals for the first berth.

At the beginning of June, Miami was in a dark and desperate time. It was seven games under .500 and amidst a season-worst five-game losing skid. Since then, the Marlins are 14-4, and have roared back into the playoff hunt, and vaulted themselves to two games above .500.

During their dominant June run, Miami recorded its longest home winning streak since 2009 at the old Sun Life Stadium, capped by a three-game sweep of the woeful Giants this past weekend, per Marlins Communications on X (formerly Twitter).

A big reason the Marlins have roared back into the mix has been the offense. Through 18 games this month, Miami has averaged 4.7 runs per game, a slight improvement from the 3.9 average in May, but that's not the main reason for their success.

Marlins Pitching Staff Is the Main Reason for the June Success

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The pitching staff has made huge strides over the last 18 games and leads all of baseball with a 3.06 ERA this month. Starters Max Meyer and Sandy Alcantara have been instrumental with their electric performances this month. Each starter owns a sub-three ERA and has a combined 7-0 record over that span.

A couple of guys who've flown under the radar this month are Lake Bachar and Anthony Bender. Bender has allowed just one run and six hits over 7.2 innings out of the bullpen. He has 11 strikeouts and just two walks over his last eight appearances.

Bachar has been used in multiple situations and thrived in them all. He's allowed just two runs and six hits over 13 innings while allowing just a .140 opponent batting average. He's been used as an opener four times and allowed just two runs over nine innings of work in that role.

For the Marlins to continue the dominant stretch, they must continue to pitch well against a struggling incoming Texas Rangers offense. Miami continues its homestand with a three-game set against the Rangers, and will attempt to extend the loanDepot success in the final home series of the month.

The Rangers enter with the third-fewest runs scored in all of baseball this season, but have been better of late. They're more toward the middle of the pack in run scoring this month (21st), and are coming off a series victory over the San Diego Padres.