5-year Marliniversary: Sánchez's bomb caps 4-run 9th as Marlins stun Nats

[Mike Ferguson]

After making the postseason in 2020, the Miami Marlins didn’t come close to following that with an encore worth celebrating in 2021. They did, however, finish ahead of the Washington Nationals for fourth place in the National League East.

On this day five years ago, Miami avoided being caught by the Nationals and won the three-game set between the teams in dramatic fashion. The Marlins stunned Washington with four runs in the ninth, capped by Jesús Sánchez’s two-run home run in an 8-6 win.  

Scoreless through three and a half innings at Nationals Park on Sept. 15, 2021, Washington had scored in five straight innings as the contest went to the top of the ninth. Miami had scored in three straight innings but had never led as it sat on the wrong side of a 6-4 score.

Facing Kyle Finnegan, it didn’t take long for the Marlins to put the tying run in scoring position. After Isan Díaz walked to open the inning, Jazz Chisholm Jr. singled one pitch later. A wild pitch then moved both runners into scoring position.

Miguel Rojas followed with an RBI single to cut the lead to one. After Lewin Díaz grounded out, Bryan De La Cruz’s RBI fielder’s choice tied the game at 6 apiece.

Díaz and De La Cruz had each put the ball in play on the first pitch. Sánchez followed suit but his swing left the infield and the yard. On a high fastball on the outer half of the plate, Sánchez went the other way for a no-doubter to left-centerfield and into the Washington bullpen for the go-ahead two-run blast – his second two-run shot of the day.

Now with an 8-6 lead, Dylan Floro closed things out with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. In addition to Sánchez’s big day, De La Cruz also homered in the win, going 1-for-3 with two RBIs and three runs scored. Rojas and Chisholm each added two hits. Rojas had two RBIs while Chisholm scored a run.

Alcides Escobar finished with four of the 15 hits for the Nationals. Josh Bell had three hits and a home run in the loss.

The Marlins would finish two games better than Washington in the standings at 67-95 to 65-97 for the Nationals. Although Washington took the season series, the final game and series between the teams in the nation’s capital went the way of the Marlins. It happened on this day five years ago.

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