8th Inning Surge Pushes Marlins Past Nationals, Series Sweep

The Miami Marlins needed a bounce back after losing five straight games, and they got just that in the nation’s capital. 

Max Meyer tossed a seven-inning gem and the Marlins scored late to beat the Washington Nationals 4-1 on Wednesday, completing their first road series sweep of the season. 

Meyer improved to 6-0 after allowing one run on two hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. His ERA lowered to 2.81 on the season, which is the eighth lowest in the National League. 

Calvin Faucher threw a hitless eighth inning with a walk and strikeout, and Pete Fairbanks notched his seventh save of the game with a scoreless ninth inning. 

The Marlins established an early 1-0 lead in the second inning on a solo home run by Esteury Ruiz, his third of the season. 

The Nationals’ only run in the game came on Keibert Ruiz scoring on a fielder’s choice hit by Dylan Crews in the third inning. 

The Marlins broke the game open in the eighth inning. Xavier Edwards led off the rally with a line drive single to center field. Liam Hicks then drew a walk, and Jakob Marsee loaded the bases with a single of his own. The Marlins cashed in on a two-run single by Joe Mack to take a 3-1 lead. 

Kyle Stowers put a bow on the Marlins' sweeping victory with an RBI triple in the ninth inning, scoring Otto Lopez, who reached on a single. Stowers told the Marlins Radio Network after the game that “late inning scoring was big” in terms of pulling off the sweep. 

“We stuck around the whole game,” Stowers said. “I think we scored in every ninth inning, so that’s a big thing to give us some run support to these pitchers. They’ve been throwing the ball great, so we got to do our jobs.”

Mack’s bat woke up during this series. Before his heroics on Wednesday, Mack hit his first career home run on Tuesday during a 7-3 win that saw the Fightin’ Fish hit four homers, including back-to-back-to-back in the fifth inning. Mack has gone 6-for-23 with a home run and five RBI in his last seven games. 

“He’s a great player,” Stowers said. “I think sometimes when guys come up right away, it can be easy to overanalyze how they’re doing, and they’re just getting their feet under them.“

Andrew Alvarez threw 4.2 innings for the Nationals, allowing one run on four hits with five strikeouts. Clayton Beeter was charged with the loss for giving up two runs on three hits with three strikeouts over 1.1 innings. 

The Marlins (29-34) finished the longest road trip of the season 4-5 to escape the National League East cellar shortly after being swept by the New York Mets, who are back in last place. 

The Marlins return home on Friday to take on the Tampa Bay Rays (36-23), who have the highest winning percentage in the American League (.610). 

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