Marlins' clutch gene returns in 11th-inning victory

WASHINGTON -- At this point, every game is so big for the Marlins that this week the team is approaching each one “like Game 7 of the World Series,” per Jazz Chisholm Jr. His point: With so many teams ahead of them in the race for the final National League Wild Card spot, every pitch, every swing carries additional weight for Miami.

It was with that mindset that the Marlins opened September by rallying to an 8-5 win over the Nationals in 11 innings on Friday night at Nationals Park. Bryan De La Cruz and Jon Berti contributed run-scoring hits, and Garrett Hampson put the win on ice with a two-run homer as the Marlins endured a rougher Eury Pérez start while keeping pace in the NL Wild Card hunt.

• Games remaining: at WSH (2), vs. LAD (3), at PHI (3), at MIL (4), vs. ATL (3), vs. NYM (3), vs. MIL (3), at NYM (3), at PIT (3)

• Standings update: The Marlins (68-67) are two games behind the D-backs (70-65) and the Giants (70-65) for the third NL Wild card spot and one game behind the Reds (70-67). Miami would hold the first tiebreaker, based on head-to-head matchups, over Arizona (4-2), but not necessarily against San Francisco (3-3) or Cincinnati (3-3).

Upon arriving in the nation’s capital this week, the Marlins turned the page on their dreadful August with a victory in Thursday’s series opener. It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t necessarily pretty. But now they’ve begun September with another.

“It's been a while since I was playing really meaningful games in September, and I feel it in this clubhouse,” Hampson said. “Guys know what's at stake. Guys know the long grind of the season. It would be disappointing if we didn't finish off strong because we had a really good year and played really good baseball.”

Without slugger Jorge Soler for the third straight game, the Marlins were held to one hit between the third and 10th innings by Jake Irvin and a parade of Nationals relievers. They finally squeaked out a run on three straight fielder’s choices in the 10th. Then, after Washington rallied off Tanner Scott to tie the game in the bottom of the frame, Miami stormed back with a four-run 11th to avoid a loss that could’ve put a major hit on its playoff chances.

The result was only the Marlins’ 11th win in 28 games, but it was a crucial one for a club that enjoyed one of the most successful first halves in team history. According to FanGraphs, Miami’s playoff odds have dropped approximately 30 points since the Aug. 1 Trade Deadline. Though several of the pieces the club acquired -- Josh Bell and Jake Burger -- have largely played well, the Marlins posted the NL’s third-worst record in August (9-15) behind a stilting offense and a string of late-inning collapses.

Miami embarks on the season’s final month with one of the most challenging September schedules of any team, fully aware that few pegged it back in the spring to be competing for a postseason spot this late in the year. The Marlins want to prove they belong in the stretch run, and that their high-flying first half was no fluke.

“We know what's in this clubhouse,” Hampson said. “We know that we're a playoff-caliber team, and that's our goal.”

“It's very important, being out here [in September]," said Pérez via team translator Luis Dorante Jr. "We know we're competing for a playoff spot. So it's very important for me to do that with all my teammates, competing and continuing that effort.”

By month’s end, the Marlins will need to have leapfrogged three teams in the standings to turn those October dreams into a reality. On the field, their best chance at doing that is by getting back to their strengths, which is why Friday’s bullpen performance was so encouraging. That unit was at the heart of the team’s late-August slide, and it entered Friday having allowed 15 earned runs in 24 1/3 innings over its past six games while Deadline acquisition David Robertson lost his firm grip on the closer’s role.

But the ‘pen responded Friday by largely holding the line behind Perez, who surrendered three runs over 4 2/3 innings. Making his first relief appearance before the seventh inning since 2018, Robertson was one of five Marlins relievers to combine for 6 1/3 solid innings, holding Washington to only the two unearned runs Scott allowed in the 10th and 11th. With veteran starter Johnny Cueto in line to return from the injured list and start Saturday, Miami’s pitching staff as a whole is rapidly approaching full strength as each out and each game grows ever more important.

“That was an awesome win,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “The bullpen was outstanding today.”