The Windup Newsletter ⚾ | This is The Athletic’s MLB newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Windup directly in your inbox.A bad slide followed by a reversal of fates? Was this Otto Lopez play a microcosm of the Marlins’ season? Plus: Jayson Stark on that wild game in Las Vegas, a maybe-not-a-story story about a famous baseball doctor and our Baseball Card of the Week. I’m Levi Weaver — welcome to The Windup!Pretty Ugly: Lopez’s slide was surprisingly athleticThis has been the year of the Otto Lopez breakout. After making it into just nine games with the Blue Jays in 2021 and 2022, Lopez was traded to the Giants for cash in February 2024, only to be claimed off waivers by the Marlins that April. By the end of last year, he had a career line of .260/.312/.374 (.686 OPS) in 269 games.So naturally, the 27-year-old is leading the sport in batting average this year, at .344. It should be noted that there is a little bit of BABIP luck happening. He entered last night with a .391 average on balls in play — league average is .288. But with an xBA of .298 (which is in the league’s 95th percentile), 18 doubles, three triples and five home runs, it’s not all smoke and mirrors, either.In addition to the bat, Lopez has provided a bit of speed, stealing his 12th and 13th bases last night. No. 12 came in the first inning, and boy, was it an adventure. After Liam Hicks was thrown out at third base earlier in the inning, Lopez advanced to second on a disengagement violation, then took off for third. Here’s how it looked in real time:Lopez — ear full of dirt, butt full of glove — had just made the Marlins’ second out of the inning at third base. But hang on …Upon review, Lopez was safe. What had appeared to be a disaster was actually an extremely athletic play. One Xavier Edwards sac fly later, and the Marlins were halfway to what would become a 2-0 win.That was the Marlins’ fifth win in a row. After finishing May at 26-34, they’re a league-best 8-1 in June. At 34-35, they’d be a half-game out of a playoff spot … if they were in the American League. In the NL, they’re two games (and five teams) out.Middle Relief: Stark on that wacky Brewers win over A’sToday, Stark’s Weird & Wild column starts with some notes on Monday’s 15-14 game in Las Vegas, with quotes from Brewers manager Pat Murphy! Here’s an excerpt:Thirty-four hits, 11 homers and the losing team scored two touchdowns! You don’t see that much. This was only the fourth game since 1900 with that many hits, that many homers and a losing team that put at least 14 runs on the board. The others were a 2019 Brewers game (Milwaukee lost to the Nationals 15-14 in 14 innings) and two Wrigley Field windblown classics — a 23-22 slugfest in 1979 and a 16-15 Cubs win over the Reds on July 28, 1977.The A’s put up seven homers and 14 runs — and they lost! Does that seem hard? Let’s go with yes. We’re closing in on a quarter-million games in the major leagues since 1900. Only one other team, in all those games, ever fired off that many runs and that many home runs and lost: Miguel Sanó’s 2021 Twins, in a 17-14 loss to the Tigers.