Marlins in place to drag off sweep of Nationals

The Washington Nationals will try to cool off Miami’s Heriberto Hernandez and salvage the finale of a three-game series when they host the Marlins on Wednesday.

Hernandez hit two of the Marlins’ four home runs in a 7-3 win on Tuesday. It was his first career multi-homer game, and it gave him three long balls in the series.

Joe Mack, Hernandez and Otto Lopez hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning after the Marlins were held hitless through the first four frames.

Washington had won or split six consecutive series since losing two of three May 8-10 in Miami. The Marlins came to Washington with a five-game losing streak but now will go for their second series sweep in two weeks.

The Marlins will send right-hander Max Meyer (5-0, 2.97 ERA) out against left-hander Andrew Alvarez (1-0, 4.02) in the finale.

Meyer is coming off his worst start of the season. After tossing 13 scoreless innings in consecutive wins against the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets, the Mets roughed him up on Friday. Meyer went six innings and gave up six runs (five earned) on six hits in a no-decision.

Meyer lost his only career start against Washington when he permitted five runs in 5 2/3 innings on Sept. 3, 2024.

Alvarez will be making his sixth appearance and first start of the season. He has worked in long and short relief as well as following an opener. Last time out, he went three innings against the San Diego Padres on Friday and gave up three runs on five hits. He threw 74 pitches.

“Just wasn’t as sharp today,” manager Blake Butera said of Alvarez after that contest. “Felt like when he was getting two strikes, it was just foul ball after foul ball. He wasn’t able to get the swing and miss with two strikes.”

Alvarez won his lone career start against the Marlins, when he tossed five shutout innings of one-hit ball in his major league debut on Sept. 1, 2025.

The teams’ Tuesday night game was quiet until the fifth inning, when a walk was followed by three consecutive Miami home runs. Mack started things off with his first big-league long ball.

“For Joe Mack to get his first career homer in a big spot like that — good for him, and certainly for us,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “And (for) Bert and Otto to follow up right away, it’s certainly a big boost.”

Lopez finished 2-for-5, and he leads the majors with 80 hits. Hernandez has hit safely in six of his past seven games, amassing four homers and 10 RBIs in that span.

Nationals pitcher Miles Mikolas had been steadily lowering his ERA after a poor start to the season, but he gave up six runs on six hits, including the back-to-back-to-back bombs, in six-plus innings.

“When I can keep the ball down, I’m really successful,” he said. “Once I start to float up to that thigh, belt area with those fastballs, big-league hitters are going to hit that.”

CJ Abrams singled and scored in the seventh inning for Washington, and he has reached safely in 21 of his past 22 games. He is batting .304 (24-for-79) with seven doubles, a triple, three homers, nine walks, 15 runs and 11 RBIs during that stretch.

The Nationals went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position on Tuesday, including 0-for-5 with a runner on third base in the seventh and eighth innings.

–Field Level Media