Down to final three outs, Marlins put up six unanswered to get back over .500

[Louis Addeo-Weiss]

The clock is ticking on the Miami Marlins to make up ground in their 2026 playoff push. Dropping the first two games of a four-game set against the Nationals to fall to .500 and four games out of the final NL Wild Card spot, they had no choice but to make a statement on Sunday.

Through eight innings against the division rival Washington Nationals, it looked as if that statement was, "we surrender." The Fish trailed 2-0 entering the top of the ninth inning. They had previously been 2-58 when trailing in the ninth this season.

Then, the Marlins improbably reeled off this sequence of events:

• Walk
• Walk
• Popout
• Double steal
• Walk
• Hit by pitch
• Sacrifice fly, E8
• Walk
• Double steal
• Two-run home run
• Groundout

Sending all nine men to the plate, the Marlins left the top of the ninth with a 6-2 lead, one they would not relinquish, picking up their 69th win of the season in the process.

Scoring six runs on the strength of merely four hits, the Marlins became the first MLB team to do so since the Mets on June 4, 2025. The Marlins last did it way back on April 24, 2011. One of those four hits came via Otto Lopez, his first home run since July 5, snapping a drought of 197 plate appearances.

Lost in Sunday's game was the solid effort put forth by Janson Junk, who held Washington to merely one run over 4 ⅔ innings of work. After a rough stretch in May, Junk has rebounded to allow two or fewer runs in nine of his last 10 starts, finishing the month of August with a 1.59 ERA. 

Carrying a scoreless tie into the bottom of the fifth, Washington broke through first when former Marlins farmhand Nasim Nuñez doubled in center fielder Jacob Young. Washington would net a second run three innings later with help from Leo Jiménez, whose second error of the day allowed Brady House to go first to third.

On a more serious note, second baseman Xavier Edwards had to leave the game following Jorbit Vivas' slide that saw Edwards jam his left thumb. He will undergo imaging on Monday to determine the severity of the injury. Edwards has yet to miss a game this season.

 

Looking Ahead

The Marlins will wrap up the season series against the Nationals on Monday. Ryan Gusto (1-3, 3.98 ERA), fresh off one of his best starts of the season, will take the ball for Miami.

A win would clinch the Marlins' first 10-win season series against any NL East team since going 11-2 against these Nats in 2023. 

The first pitch is slated for 6:45 EST at Nationals Park. 

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