Jorge Soler hit a two-out, two-strike walk-off home run in the ninth inning as the Miami Marlins rallied to defeat the visiting Washington Nationals 5-4 on Tuesday night.
Trailing 4-2 with two outs and none on in the ninth, Garrett Cooper doubled and scored on Luis Arraez’s single. On a 3-2 pitch, Soler belted a 99-mph fastball from reliever Hunter Harvey (2-1). The exit velocity was 111 mph, and the ball traveled 405 feet to left as the Marlins improved to 13-1 this year in one-run games.
Arraez, Bryan De La Cruz, and Jean Segura each had two hits for the Marlins. Arraez leads the majors with a .386 batting average.
The Nationals got a solo homer from Lane Thomas and a 3-for-3 performance by Jeimer Candelario.
Neither starting pitcher earned a decision.
Washington’s Josiah Gray threw 104 pitches in seven innings, allowing two runs (one earned) and striking out five.
Miami’s Jesus Luzardo, who threw 93 pitches in six innings, allowed one run and struck out seven.
The Marlins scored first. Miami loaded the bases with one out in the second on singles by Segura and Peyton Burdick and a walk to Nick Fortes.
Joey Wendle then hit a grounder to first baseman Dominic Smith, who got a forceout at second. Segura scored, and Burdick also came around when shortstop CJ Abrams’ return throw to first was bobbled by Gray. Wendle earned one RBI, and the second run was unearned.
Washington got on the board in the sixth as Thomas led off the inning with a homer to right field. Thomas connected on a high, 95-mph fastball.
In the seventh, Fortes singled and raced to third when Garrett Hampson’s chopper went over the head of Candelario for a double. The Nationals intentionally walked Arraez to load the bases with two outs, and Gray — on his last pitch of the night — got Soler on a groundout to end the threat.
Washington took a 4-2 lead with three runs in the eighth. Luis Garcia started the rally with an infield hit that was chopped about 20 feet in the air. Joey Meneses walked, and Garcia went to third on catcher Fortes’ throwing error.
Candelario then tied the score with an RBI single, and Smith’s two-out, two-run single on a 1-1 fastball from reliever Steven Okert gave Washington the lead.
–Field Level Media
