Miami Marlins week in review: 10 defining stats with team 10 games over .500

Another three-city road trip is in the books for the Miami Marlins.

And they head home with a record the team hasn’t had in a dozen years.

With a three-game sweep of the Washington Nationals, Miami is 41-31 on the season. It’s the first time the Marlins are 10 games over .500 since May 28, 2011. It’s an impressive feat, but not the end goal with 90 games left in the season.

But how have they done it? Here are 10 stats that sum up the Marlins’ season about a week and a half shy of the halfway point.

▪ 7: The Marlins are one of seven MLB teams with 40 wins and one of just three in the National League, with the Atlanta Braves and Arizona Diamondbacks being the others in the NL.

▪ 32-0: Miami’s record when leading after the eighth inning. The Marlins also have nine wins this season when trailing or tied going into the ninth, including three walk-off wins.

▪ 20: Number of comeback wins this season. In other words, the Marlins have trailed at some point in nearly half of their wins.

▪ 20-18: Miami’s record on the road. They are one of 10 teams with at least 20 road wins this season.

▪ 22-10: Miami’s record in the 32 games since Jazz Chisholm Jr. landed on the injured list with turf toe. Chisholm has been ramping up his baseball activities and is closing in on beginning a rehab assignment, according to general manager Kim Ng.

▪ 18-5: The Marlins’ record in one-run games one season after they went 24-40 in those situations.

▪ 16-15: Miami’s record against teams who were at least .500 through games played Sunday. Six of the 15 losses have come against the NL-leading Braves.

▪ 13-10: The Marlins’ won-loss record by series. This includes six series sweeps and them being swept just once through their first 23 series played.

▪ 6-8: Miami’s record in Sandy Alcantara’s 14 starts. The Marlins, however, have won in four of his past five outings after going 2-7 in his first nine starts.

▪ .270: The Marlins’ batting average in the seventh inning or later. That’s tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the best mark in baseball. Miami’s 110 runs scored in the final third of a game (and extra innings) are the ninth-most in MLB.

Father’s Day

Bryan De La Cruz doesn’t have to look too far to remember who he’s playing for. Hanging just below his neck on a silver chain is a picture of his two kids, Eliel and Noriel, going down a slide.

“Three years ago, God blessed me with the opportunity to be a father, and it did change a lot,” De La Cruz said. “They became my motivation, my strength. Every time I go to the baseball field, if I’m feeling tired, if I’m feeling like I want to go run away or something like that, I see a picture of them and I know why I get up every morning, why I do what I have to do, why I have to grind. They are the reason of my life and that’s why I keep them very close to me all the time. Every time I feel sad or powerless, I just see them and I get all the energy.”

De La Cruz isn’t the only player in the Miami Marlins’ clubhouse who shares that sentiment. Of the 26 players on the team’s active roster, about half of them are either fathers or, in the case of relief pitcher Tanner Scott and utility player Garrett Hampson, are soon-to-be fathers.

And there’s a consensus among them: Becoming a parent changed their perspective on life and how they approach evaluating their performance on the field, with the outlook shifting away from themselves individually and more toward setting a proper example for their children.

“You have a purpose,” said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, father of son Brody and daughter Presley.

Read the full story here.

Game recaps from this week

▪ Monday — Mariners 8, Marlins 1: Jesus Luzardo lasted a season-low four innings and put the Marlins in an early hole from which they couldn’t recover.

▪ Tuesday — Mariners 9, Marlins 3: Miami followed a similar script to its series opener to drop its series against the Mariners.

▪ Wednesday — Marlins 4, Mariners 1: 20-year-old rookie Eury Perez pitched six innings for the first time in his MLB career as Miami salvaged the series finale against Seattle.

▪ Friday — Marlins 6, Nationals 5: After going without a hit in Seattle, Luis Arraez went 5 for 5 to lead Miami to a series-opening victory against Washington.

▪ Saturday — Marlins 5, Nationals 2: Braxton Garrett pitched a gem and the Marlins offense scored four runs late to provide the needed support.

▪ Sunday — Marlins 4, Nationals 2: Jesus Luzardo pitched six strong innings and Jacob Amaya came up clutch in his MLB debut to secure the sweep.

After further review...

The work Austin Lamkey does for the Miami Marlins could typically go unnoticed. He is the team’s major league video coordinator, and his job generally takes place behind the scenes. The bulk of Lamkey’s role is putting together video playlists to help players best prepare for their upcoming opponent.

But when the game is unfolding on the field, Lamkey is the point person for some of the team’s game-defining decisions. He’s the mastermind of replay challenges. He’s a team of one, trusting his instinct, intuition and memory of past experiences to decide whether to give the Marlins the all-clear to test the umpires’ decisions.

When manager Skip Schumaker raises his hand to alert the umpires that they might challenge a play and bench coach Luis “Pipe” Urueta reaches for the dugout phone, it’s Lamkey on the other end of the line. He has most likely already analyzed the situation and come to a conclusion before the phone even began ringing. Now, Lamkey relays a simple yes or no to Urueta, who passes the decision on to Schumaker.

“It’s Austin’s call,” Schumaker said. “I get credit for it, but I don’t do anything. It’s Austin.”

And more often than not, Lamkey has been right this season.

The Marlins are 15-1 on replay challenges this season, successfully overturning calls at an MLB-best 93.75-percent rate.

Read the full profile on Lamkey here.

In case you missed it

▪ One of the key plays in the Marlins’ series finale against the Mariners? Jesus Sanchez’s ninth-inning grand slam robbery.

▪ The Marlins finished their trip to Seattle as a team on Wednesday, but a couple players will likely be back there next month for the All-Star Game.

▪ One main weakness Miami still needs to figure out: Limiting opponents’ stolen base success.

Upcoming Marlins schedule

Monday: Marlins vs Blue Jays, 6:40 p.m.

Tuesday: Marlins vs. Blue Jays, 6:40 p.m.

Wednesday: Marlins vs. Blue Jays, 12:10 p.m.

Thursday: Marlins vs Pirates, 6:40 p.m.

Friday: Marlins vs Pirates, 6:40 p.m.

Saturday: Marlins vs Pirates, 6:40 p.m.

Sunday: Marlins vs Pirates, 1:40 p.m.