Jake Burger had three hits, while Jonah Bride and Connor Norby each drove in two runs, helping the Miami Marlins take advantage of three errors by the Washington Nationals for a 6-3 win in the first game of their four-game series on Thursday night.
Bride hit a single to tie the game in the eighth inning, and Otto Lopez put the Marlins in the lead with a grounder that was mishandled by the Nationals. This win ended a three-game losing streak for the Marlins and improved their record to 2-9 against the Nationals this season.
Miami manager Skip Schumaker said, “There’s value to putting the ball in play. We say it all the time. There’s a lot of strikeouts in the league, and I know you hit into some double plays at times, but you have to make them play defense.”
The Nationals, who lost their 81st game, will end the season with a losing record for the fifth straight year since their 2019 World Series win.
The Marlins were behind 3-2 going into the eighth inning. They tied the game with a double from pinch hitter Xavier Edwards, a walk by Norby, and Bride’s single.
After Burger’s single loaded the bases with no outs, Lopez hit a grounder to shortstop CJ Abrams. Abrams threw to second baseman Luis García Jr. for a force out, but García’s throw to first baseman Joey Gallo went astray, allowing Bride to score another run.
Edwards, who was sick earlier in the day and not originally in the lineup, said, “We’ve been playing good ball as of late, just not a lot of runs to show for it. I’m glad we could get one here early.”
Norby added a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning.
Anthony Bender (5-2) struck out Dylan Crews to end the seventh inning, and Jesús Tinoco pitched two scoreless innings for his first save since September 14, 2019, and only the second of his career.
Tinoco, who has a 1.33 ERA in 16 games since Miami acquired him from the Chicago Cubs on July 30, was praised by Schumaker: “He’s been fantastic. He’s throwing a 97 sinker and then at times a four-seam at the top and that slider he can throw at any time in any count. It’s been a big pickup for us.”
