Marlins win 6th in a row with a 4-2 victory over Rangers, who have lost 7 straight

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Miami Marlins starting pitcher Eury Pérez celebrates while walking towards the dugout after striking out Texas Rangers' Jonah Heim during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Ronaldo Bolaños)

Miami Marlins' Graham Pauley scores a run off a sacrifice fly ball by teammate Brian Navarreto during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Ronaldo Bolaños) — Miami Marlins starting pitcher Eury Pérez celebrates while walking towards the dugout after striking out Texas Rangers' Jonah Heim during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Ronaldo Bolaños)

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3:06 PM on Sunday, September 21

By STEPHEN HAWKINS

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Otto Lopez got three hits, drove in a run and scored another as the Miami Marlins won their sixth game in a row, 4-2 over the Texas Rangers on Sunday in a matchup of teams unlikely to make the playoffs but still mathematically alive with six games left.

Wyatt Langford hit his 22nd homer for Texas (79-77), whose seven-game losing streak is its longest this season. The Rangers were 5 1/2 games behind Houston for the final American League wild card before the Astros, who hold the tiebreaker over Texas, hosted AL West-leading Seattle on Sunday night.

Miami (76-80) went ahead to stay in the fourth when Lopez had an RBI double and scored on a single by Heriberto Hernández off Merrill Kelly (12-9). Back-to-back doubles by Jakob Marsee and Agustín Ramírez made it 3-0 in the fifth.

The Marlins were four games behind the New York Mets (80-76) and Cincinnati, who were tied for the last National League wild card.

Lake Bachar (8-2) worked two innings for the win after taking over for 22-year-old starter Eury Pérez, who set a season high by striking out nine in four scoreless innings. Pérez allowed two hits and walked one while throwing 88 pitches.

George Soriano worked the ninth for his first save.

Key moment

After Texas scored twice in the sixth to pull to 3-2, Graham Pauley led off the Marlins seventh with a triple to deep center field and No. 9 batter Brian Navarreto followed with a sacrifice fly to the same area for a 4-2 lead.

Key stat

Miami has won 10 of its last 11 games and its 76 total wins are already 14 more than last season.

Up next

Both teams get a day off before playing Tuesday night, when Miami is at NL East champion Philadelphia, and Texas hosts Minnesota.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB