A’s nearly erase eight-run hole, fall 9-8 to Marlins after last-out moment at Sutter Health Park

With the Athletics already down big, Sunday’s game at Sutter Health Park became a test of whether they would quit after falling behind early, and whether their roster depth would hold up when the lineup changed late. After Jeff McNeil arrived at the ballpark under the weather and was scratched at the last minute, Jonah Heim was ready to take the designated hitter spot, part of an A’s charge that nearly turned an eight-run deficit into a win.

The late rally created the kind of finish that makes a season feel salvageable even in the loss column. Miami plated runs early and carried control for most of the first seven innings, blanketing the Athletics until late offense began to arrive in a more urgent pattern. By the time the A’s started to tighten the game, the deficit was already at six, and the final margin came down to whether they could reach the finish line once the comeback was fully underway.

Heim’s preparation to start on short notice mattered, because it came at the exact moment the Athletics needed steady at-bats. As the game flipped toward the late innings, the A’s kept stringing moments together, turning what had looked like a one-sided day into a sudden battle. Manager and players later framed the effort as something to learn from, even though the outcome did not follow through.

The Marlins, however, kept their footing long enough to survive. The close scoreline reflected the A’s late run production, but also underlined how much damage the early innings did to their ability to control the final frame. In the end, catcher Brian Serven grounded out to second base for the final out, ending the game and snapping the rally at the last moment.

The Athletics left the park with more than one kind of take-away. On one hand, the loss completed a difficult stretch at home, and it was part of finishing a homestand with more trouble than they wanted. On the other hand, the way they pushed the game nearly the whole way back gave the club a clearer picture of what it can build when the late-inning bats start to connect, and when the lineup can adjust without collapsing.

As the Athletics shift toward the rest of their schedule, the immediate question is how to translate this kind of late energy into the games that come next, especially against opponents that can punish early innings the way Miami did. The club also now has a clearer internal reference point for depth and readiness. If Heim’s ability to step in cleanly becomes a pattern, and if the team can keep fighting past the point where a game normally slips away, this “almost” can become more than a one-day story.