Bellozo masterful, Marlins walk-off Nats

MIAMI—After one of Valente Bellozo's best starts of the season, a modest no-hitter attempt, a blown save, and a walk-off, the Miami Marlins finally came away with a win against the Washington Nationals, defeating them 4-3 on Wednesday night. After Mike Baumann surrendered three earned runs in the top of the eighth, blowing Miami's late 2-0 lead, the Marlins were able to come back and win the game in the bottom of the tenth behind Xavier Edwards' walk-off. 

Marlins starter Valente Bellozo set the tone early on Wednesday. After a couple of rough starts in his last two outings, the right-hander spun together one of his best starts of the season, shutting down the Nationals for six innings, helping Miami earn their first victory against their division rivals. 

Over the past couple of seasons, whenever the Marlins saw the Nationals on the schedule, they salivated, viewing those games as great opportunities to take advantage and add some wins. From 2022-'23, the Marlins dominated the Nats, going 26-6 in their 32 contests. 

2024 has been an entirely different story, though. Heading into Wednesday night's game, the Marlins were 0-8 on the season against Washington, having been out-scored 54-20. Miami was swept by them in four games at home in late-April and then swept in three in the Nation's capital in mid-June. 

After Tuesday night's loss, the Mexican right-hander did his part in helping put an end to that streak, twirling six innings of shutout ball. He scattered three hits and walked two, effectively and efficiently using all five of his pitches. 

The Marlins acquired Bellozo on April 6 in a trade with the Houston Astros that sent shortstop prospect Jacob Amaya the other way. Bellozo made his ML debut a couple months later. Aside from two clunkers his last two times out, Bellozo has been nothing short of amazing for a Marlins team that has been desperate for innings. He now has a 3.78 ERA over 47.2 IP in nine starts.

"Bellozo was outstanding tonight. He's kind of a magician, honestly," said manager Skip Schumaker postgame. "There's just enough movement to miss the barrel. Tonight was as good of an outing as you can get."

Bellozo's final line was: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER 2 BB. 

Nationals starter MacKenzie Gore was even more dominant early on as he didn't allow a single base-runner until the bottom of the sixth inning. "I thought we were getting no-hit there for a minute with the way Gore was throwing the baseball, so to come out of that with a win is pretty awesome," said Skip.

After a seven-pitch walk to Griffin Conine in the sixth, Nick Fortes drilled an RBI double for the first run of the game. The following inning, Otto Lopez added an RBI double of his own to extend the lead to two. 

To the surprise of no one, the Nationals didn't go down quietly. The aforementioned Baumann allowed three base-runners to open the eighth, all of which came around to score and give the Nats the lead. While trailing 3-2 in the bottom half of the frame, Jake Burger tied the game with an RBI single off All-Star reliever Kyle Finnegan. 

"Big at-bat by Burger. He's become the leader in that clubhouse because of all the trades," said Schumaker. "He's not going to tell you this, but he's put a little pressure on himself but he's come through, which shows you that he's ready for that role as a leader."

After a scoreless ninth inning, John McMillon was able to strand the Nationals placed runner in the 10th. McMillon earned the first win of his Major League career on Wednesday. 

In the bottom half, Fortes advanced Miami's placed runner to third with a groundout and Xavier Edwards drove him home with an RBI single, securing Miami's 52nd win of the season. "I thought his timing was a little bit off since he's come back [from the IL], but the at-bats have gotten better. I think he's shown he's an everyday player," added Schumaker.

Edwards' walk-off was the first of his Major League career. 

Wednesday marked the 18th extra-inning game for the Marlins this season, the most in MLB. 

Miami improved to 52-87 while the Nationals fell to 62-77. Miami will open a four-game series on Thursday against the Philadelphia Phillies. Right-hander Adam Oller will oppose lefty Ranger Suárez.