Two wins over Miami, and a chance to answer last week
The Nationals have not won a series since Aug. 9. They are 6-12 across that stretch. They are also two games into taking one back from the Miami Marlins, who swept them in three last week.
Washington go into the third game of the four-game set on Sunday after a 9-2 win on Friday night and a 5-4 win in ten innings on Saturday. One more and the drought ends.
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Crews walked it off, Cavalli took a comebacker
Saturday produced Washington’s first walk-off of the season. Dylan Crews came up with two out and the bases loaded in the tenth and singled home automatic runner Nasim Nunez from third.
“That’s an awesome win right there, what a dogfight,” Crews said afterwards. “We’ve been going through it the past couple of weeks. With this team, we’re never out of a game.”
The night cost them something. Cade Cavalli was struck on the right calf by a Javier Sanoja comebacker with two out in the fourth. He recovered to throw Sanoja out, then did not return for the fifth. Cavalli leads the Nationals in wins with 12, in ERA at 3.12 and in strikeouts with 177. His four innings on Saturday were hitless, with eight strikeouts and three walks.
Andrew Alvarez (2-6, 3.72) starts Sunday on a three-game personal losing run during which Washington scored two runs in total. His record against Miami reads 0-1 with a 0.93 ERA across two career starts, the most recent a no-decision on June 3.
Miami lean on Hernandez
The Marlins have lost four of five and watched a 4-0 deficit turn into a tie on Saturday through a two-run double from Kyle Stowers and a two-run homer from Heriberto Hernandez, both with two out.
That was Hernandez’s 22nd of the season, a team high, and it made him the third Marlins outfielder since 2018 to reach 20 in a year, after Stowers in 2025 and Adam Duvall in 2021.
“Bert can hit, and one thing Bert can do is he can hit velocity, and he can hit in-zone spin, and he handles left-handers very well,” manager Clayton McCullough said of him.
Janson Junk (6-8, 4.21) is lined up for Miami, a third appearance in eight days. He held Washington to a run on two hits over 4 2/3 innings last Sunday and retired Boston in order in the eighth on Wednesday on eight pitches. Tyler Phillips (3-6, 3.59) is the alternative if that workload bites.
Washington’s bats are not the problem. Their 718 runs this season trail only the Chicago Cubs, and by two.
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