The Tartan effect made its way to Miami — and provided one of the more unforgettable nights in the history of typically moribund loanDepot Park.
With Scotland gearing up to take on mighty Brazil in a World Cup Group C match on Wednesday, June 24 at Hard Rock Stadium, its spirited, soggy and fun-loving Tartan Army continued a takeover of Major League Baseball stadiums, turning one of the most nondescript nights on the calendar — Rangers–Marlins on a Monday night — into a spectacle.
How big a spectacle? Well, the Marlins have played five Monday games this season, and averaged 8,404 fans. Yet on Monday, June 22, with Scottish fans needing to kill a couple nights before the big Brazil match, 20,008 kilt-wearing, lager-swilling, chant-crazy fans made the ballpark thump.
They were treated to a great game, the Rangers and Marlins going back and forth before the Rangers’ two-run eighth-inning rally proved decisive for a 4-3 victory.
The action beyond the field was anything but typical, however.
“It was a really fun environment,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said in his postgame press conference. “That was a very raucous environment, especially the chants. We were proud to have been hosts for a real incredible evening.
“A chance for the fans to see some American baseball and some good action, so it was real fun.”
Without the stress they’ll have to endure trying to secure at least one point against Brazil, the Scots saw a home run from the Rangers’ Ezequiel Duran and Miami’s Xavier Edwards nearly leg out an inside-the-park home run before getting cut down at the plate by a perfect Rangers relay. And then there were the chants: They hit a crescendo before Marlins starter Tyler Phillips could even throw a pitch.
Tyler and the Tartan Army ready for battle pic.twitter.com/hHPeD71ZcR
— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) June 22, 2026
It had slipped Phillips’ mind that the Scots were in town and then, on his drive to Marlins Park, “I saw all the kilts walking around everywhere. I was a little confused.”
Soon, after bagpipers took to the field in a pregame ceremony, Phillips converted that activity into energy.
“Scotland, the Tartan Army – if it was up to me, I’d have us be paying those people to show up to the games. That was unbelievable,” says Phillips, who gave up just two runs in six innings. “From the second I walked out the dugout, I felt it in my chest. They were unbelievable fans.
“I didn’t know they were going to show out like that. That was electric. If I’m driving around tonight and someone in a kilt is in trouble, I might stop and help them.”
It’s been quite a run through the USA for the Scots, who made their presence heavily felt at Boston’s Fenway Park when they filled the yard for a nationally televised Sunday night game and sang and chanted along to “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” and “Dancing Queen” and “Sweet Caroline” and so many others.
Yet the former Marlins Park provided an entirely different opportunity: A blank canvas.
While Fenway Park isn’t the sellout machine it used to be, the Marlins’ Little Havana ballyard plays more like a mausoleum on many weeknights. The largest crowd they got on a Monday last year was 15,000 for the defending champion Dodgers.
This year, the five Monday dates have ranged from 6,515 against the Chicago White Sox to 10,934 for a Passover at the Park promotion against Cincinnati on April 6.
For the Rangers, it was a welcome sight. They were the opponents for the Red Sox that night at Fenway and since, slugger Jake Burger told MLB.com, “I don’t think we’ve stopped playing ‘No Scotland, No Party,” he said of the team’s unofficial anthem for the ’26 Cup.
“Even just warming up, they were so friendly,” says Rangers pitcher Kumar Rocker, who pitched five innings Monday “It was so much good energy. They were in good spirits. It was cool.”
And by the time they counted them all, the Tartan Army brought a 138% increase at the gate for a typical Monday in Miami.
“That’s something I’d like to have,” says Phillips, “every single outing.”
Well, the Scots do have one more night to kill before Wednesday’s match. The Marlins host the Rangers on Tuesday, June 23 at 6:40 p.m. ET.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tartan Army turns Marlins vs. Rangers into ‘electric’ night
