On Monday, May 18th, the Atlanta Braves, the team with the best record in baseball up to that point at 32-15, were riding high after yet another series win in which they clobbered the Boston Red Sox by a score of 8-1 in the series’ rubber match. After dusting off the BoSox, the Braves traveled to LoanDepot Park to take on the Miami Marlins, owners of a sub-.500 22-25 record, 11 games behind the Braves in the National League East when the night’s action began. Should be an easy, stress-free, series-opening win… right? Wrong! The Marlins obliterated the Braves 12-0.
While this might seem like an aberration, there is actually a history of occasional Marlins-Braves blowouts, even when Atlanta’s season record far outpaces that of Miami. Here are a few of the most prominent (and most surprising) examples of Braves teams with far better records getting blown out by inferior Marlins teams (at least in terms of record).
Notable Marlins-Braves Blowouts Through History
July 1, 2003: Marlins 20, Braves 1, Margin: 19 runs, Braves: 51-29 | Marlins: 42-42
The most devastating of these losses featured a loaded Braves lineup boasting legends like Gary Sheffield, Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, Javy Lopez, and Rafael Furcal getting blasted by a two-homer, two-double, four-run, four-RBI game from 20-year-old rookie Miguel Cabrera, as well as a 3-for-3 game from Marlins stalwart third baseman Mike Lowell.
September 17, 2023: Marlins 16, Braves 2, Margin: 14 runs, Braves: 96-52 | Marlins: 77-72
The second-most stunning of the Marlins-Braves blowouts saw a stacked 2023 Braves squad that was a staggering 44 games over .500 at that point fall to a rather middling Marlins team, who were buoyed by the terrifying presence of a “revenge game”-fueled Jorge Soler, the 2021 Atlanta Braves World Series MVP. That “revenge game” streak from Soler continues in 2026, as we saw earlier when the Braves took on the Angels and Soler charged the mound.
May 18, 2026: Marlins 12, Braves 0, Margin: 12 runs, Braves: 32-15 | Marlins: 21-26
This game’s score still doesn’t look real when you think about how much of a fairy tale the early 2026 season has been for the Braves, who have four legitimate MVP candidates.
JAVI AND X GO BACK-TO-BACK https://t.co/gaO2pZHabv pic.twitter.com/5qmQcRH7bg
— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) May 19, 2026
Other notable spankings that losing Marlins teams have handed the Atlanta Braves:
September 24, 1996: Marlins 12, Braves 1, Margin: 11 runs, Braves: 94-62 | Marlins: 76-80
September 13, 2002: Marlins 12, Braves 2, Margin: 10 runs, Braves: 92-52 | Marlins: 71-75
April 29, 2014: Marlins 9, Braves 0, Margin: 9 runs, Braves: 17-7 | Marlins: 11-14
August 8, 2019: Marlins 9, Braves 2, Margin: 7 runs, Braves: 68-48 | Marlins: 42-71
What’s The Takeaway?
Ultimately, it’s just baseball. Good teams get blown out by bottom-feeders all the time, and no-hitters turn into walk-off wins in the span of six pitches. It’s a fascinating and endlessly fun sport to imbibe.
Even if the Braves took one on the chin last night (and the fact that Drake Baldwin was added to the long list of Braves injuries during the blowout added injury to insult), Atlanta is still in a great position nearly 50 games into the season. If the team gets demolished by 12 runs in a game in mid-May and they end up winning a close one in October, then every game—blowout or not—was exactly what the team needed.
Main Photo Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
