Lopez, Two Marlins Homers Sink Washington 4-2 in Miami

Miami did its damage early and never looked back, building a 4-0 lead through two innings before Washington could even blink. The Marlins got a two-run single, a 393-foot bomb, and a 379-foot shot — and that was more than enough.

The story of the night was how quickly Miami seized control. In the first inning, Otto Lopez singled to right, scoring two runs — and that single play swung Miami's win probability from 76% to 84%. That's the game right there, in one swing of the bat. Lopez finished 1-for-4 with 2 RBI, and the Marlins never needed to look over their shoulder after that.

Miami kept piling on in the second. Heriberto Hernandez launched a solo shot 393 feet to left, pushing the lead to 3-0 before Washington's starter Jake Irvin could find his footing. Irvin went 6.0 innings but allowed 6 hits and all 4 earned runs — the early damage was simply too much to overcome. Washington did claw back in the fourth when Jose Tena reached on an infield single and a throwing error by shortstop Lopez allowed a run to score, cutting it to 3-1. But Jakob Marsee answered immediately, crushing a 379-foot homer to right to restore the three-run cushion at 4-1. That back-and-forth in the fourth inning looks, in hindsight, like the moment Washington's window slammed shut.

Dylan Crews doubled to center in the fifth to score a run and make it 4-2, giving Washington a pulse, but the Marlins' bullpen slammed the door. Josh Ekness threw 1.1 innings of scoreless relief — no hits, no walks, one strikeout — and that was that. On the mound for Miami, Eury Perez went 5.0 innings, allowing just 1 earned run on 3 hits with 4 strikeouts. He wasn't dominant, but he was good enough, and in a 4-2 game, good enough wins. Miami's offense did the heavy lifting so Perez didn't have to be perfect. Washington finishes the day with 2 runs on what appears to be a night where the lineup never found a rhythm against Miami's pitching. The Marlins, for their part, look like a team that knows how to win a low-drama ballgame — strike first, hit the ball over the fence when it matters, and let the bullpen handle the rest.