Two outs, bases loaded, and a season’s worth of frustration gone
Nasim Nunez was standing on third. Dylan Crews was down to his last strike zone read of the night. Then came the single, and Washington had their first walk-off of the entire season, a 5-4 win over Miami in 10 innings on Saturday.
“A huge win, what a fight,” Crews said on the field straight after the game. “We’ve been going through a rough spell for the past two weeks. With this team, we’re never out of a game.”
The Nationals had led 4-0 through three. Miami erased it in the seventh with a four-run burst, both hits coming with two outs: a two-run double off the bat of Kyle Stowers, then a two-run shot from Heriberto Hernandez.
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Nothing has gone right since 9 August
Sunday brings game three of a four-game set at Nationals Park. Win it, and Washington take their first series since sweeping the Reds between 7 and 9 August. Three weeks is a long time to go without one.
There is history to settle too. Miami swept the Nationals in three straight down in Florida last week. Washington have answered with 9-2 on Friday and Saturday’s extra-innings escape.
The offence is not the problem. Washington sit on 718 runs this season, two shy of the Cubs for the best mark in baseball. Miami arrive having lost four of five.
Cavalli takes a comebacker off the calf and the rotation math changes
Javier Sanoja hit it hard, straight back up the middle. It caught Cade Cavalli on the right calf with two outs in the fourth. He stayed on long enough to retire Sanoja and finish the frame, then never came back out for the fifth.
Losing him would hurt. Cavalli leads the club in wins with 12, in ERA at 3.12 and in strikeouts with 177. He had been carrying a no-hitter through four on Saturday, eight strikeouts against three walks.
Left-hander Andrew Alvarez (2-6, 3.72) draws Sunday. He has dropped three straight, and Washington have handed him a grand total of two runs of support across those outings. Yet the Marlins bring out something else in him. Two career starts against Miami, a 0.93 ERA.
Janson Junk (6-8, 4.21) goes for the visitors, his third appearance in eight days. Hernandez, whose 22nd homer of the year kept Miami alive on Saturday, will be waiting in the middle of that order.
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