Marlins sweep, win 5th straight on big HR in 10th

WASHINGTON -- The Marlins again demonstrated a flair for the dramatic on Monday, and they certainly would not mind playing the Nationals more often.

Bryan De La Cruz launched a two-run shot high off the left-field foul pole to catapult the Marlins to another 10th-inning win over the Nats, 3-2, and a sweep of the four-game set. It marks the first time Miami has won back-to-back extra-inning games since Sept. 19-20, 2021.

• Box score

The Marlins are now 12-1 vs. the Nats this season and have won seven straight over them.

De La Cruz’s fifth homer of the season traveled 411 feet at a game-high exit velocity of 108.6 mph, coming off the Nats’ Tanner Rainey -- the second day in a row the closer had allowed a go-ahead homer in the ninth inning or later.

"That feels great for me and for my team, too,” De La Cruz said. “We [have won] five in a row now. It's great. It's wonderful. Just being able to do that with one swing, just put your team ahead, it's a wonderful feeling.”

The script throughout the sweep of the Nats centered on solid starting pitching, quality bullpen work and some clutch power hitting.

The Marlins hit five homers in the four-game series in D.C., with De La Cruz’s rocket also marking the third time in the last five games that they have connected on a go-ahead home run with two outs in the inning.

Miami is now just two games below .500 (38-40) for the first time since the club hosted the Nats on May 17 and won, 5-1.

"I think when you win, you just get that feeling, right? You want to be a part of that,” said manager Don Mattingly. “I think that's what we are seeing a little bit now. We get the big win in St. Louis to end that, with Sandy [Alcantara] kind of carrying us, and then we are able to come here and put these games together. So you start to feel good about it.

“I don't know where it goes. Obviously, we are back at it tomorrow. We got to be ready to play tomorrow with the Angels and try to get another one. We got Sandy again so you know you got a pretty good chance."

Marlins starter Braxton Garrett set a career high with 7 1/3 innings pitched, holding the Nats to four hits -- a season-low for him -- and at one point retiring 14 batters in a row, going toe-to-toe with Nationals left-hander Patrick Corbin.

"It feels quick,” Garrett said. “Because I had, in my last couple starts, some long innings, and [today] it just felt like three up, three down, three up, three down, and it was nice. My changeup got me out of some jams, and just getting my slider in good spots."

The Marlins’ southpaw allowed one run, struck out four and walked one on just 83 pitches (57 strikes). He faced the minimum three batters in six of those innings. Garrett tossed at least seven innings for the first time since an outing against the Padres on July 24, 2021.

After surrendering an RBI single to Luis García that tied the game at 1, Garrett was lifted for reliever Zach Pop.

Pop allowed a single to pinch-hitter Keibert Ruiz and, following the biggest roar from the crowd on the day, walked pinch-hitter Juan Soto on four pitches. With the bases loaded, Pop recorded two outs to keep the game deadlocked.

The Marlins are now 7-0 in D.C. this season. They can also match their best season series record against the Nats when they play in D.C. from Sept. 16-18; Miami went 14-3 against the Nationals in 2008.

The Marlins’ next assignment, though, is to take the confidence gained from the sweep into upcoming matchups against the Angels and the Mets, two teams they are a combined 2-7 against this season.

“We've had a tough schedule,” said designated hitter Jacob Stallings pregame. “We haven't had many games against teams we feel like we should win every [time]. We have played really good teams. We feel like we are a good team and we feel like we can make a run here before the All-Star break, get back to .500 and be right there for the Wild Card."