Daylen Lile powers Nationals past Marlins, 6-3, with two-homer night
By Brian Hradsky
Daylen Lile continued his torrid stretch Monday night, blasting two home runs and driving in four as the Washington Nationals rallied past the Miami Marlins, 6-3, at Nationals Park.
Washington erased an early three-run deficit with two runs in the fifth inning and four more in the seventh, taking three of four games from Miami and improving to 66-74 on the season. The Marlins dropped back to .500 at 69-69.
Lile finished 3-for-3 with two homers, four RBIs, two runs and a walk only hours after Major League Baseball named him National League Player of the Week. His home runs were his 19th and 20th of the season.
Miami jumps ahead
The game remained scoreless through the first three innings before Miami broke through with three runs in the fourth.
Kyle Stowers and Javier Sanoja contributed to the rally as the Marlins grabbed a 3-0 advantage. Washington had trouble generating anything offensively early against Miami starter Ryan Gusto, who limited the Nationals to one run over 4 1/3 innings.
Washington used Will Dion as its opener, and Dion delivered three scoreless innings before the Nationals turned the game over to their bullpen.
The Nationals were also without CJ Abrams, who was scratched from the starting lineup because of back tightness.
Lile starts the comeback
Washington finally broke through in the fifth.
With a runner aboard, Lile went the opposite way and drove a two-run homer into the visitors’ bullpen in left-center, cutting Miami’s advantage to 3-2.
It was the first opposite-field home run of Lile’s Major League career.
The Nationals still trailed entering the seventh, but Lile struck again.
Nasim Nuñez reached on a bunt single, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Lile then crushed a two-run homer to right field, giving Washington a 4-3 lead.
The blast left Lile’s bat at 106.7 mph and traveled a Statcast-projected 373 feet.
Washington was not finished.
A Miami error helped extend the seventh-inning rally before Brady House added an RBI single. By the time the inning ended, the Nationals had scored four times and turned a 3-2 deficit into a 6-3 advantage.
Lile continues breakout stretch
Lile’s performance was more than one productive night.
The 23-year-old entered Monday after being named National League Player of the Week for Aug. 24-30. During that stretch, Lile went 11-for-24 for a .458 batting average with two doubles, one triple, three home runs, 10 RBIs, five walks and seven runs scored.
His two homers Monday gave him 20 for the season and marked the fourth multi-homer game of his Major League career. All four have come during the 2026 season.
Lile has been particularly dangerous since Aug. 21, producing three doubles, a triple, five home runs and 15 RBIs while reaching safely in nine of 11 games through Monday.
For a Nationals organization still trying to determine which young players can become foundational pieces of its next competitive team, Lile’s development is becoming one of the most encouraging stories of the season.
Waldron holds Miami down
Matt Waldron played another major role in Washington’s comeback.
Waldron worked three scoreless innings in relief and earned the victory, improving to 2-2.
The Nationals bullpen prevented Miami from adding to its three-run fourth inning, providing enough time for the offense to finally break through.
But Washington still had to survive one significant threat.
Tolman escapes huge eighth-inning jam
Miami loaded the bases with nobody out in the eighth inning, putting Washington’s three-run lead in serious danger.
Rookie left-hander Erik Tolman entered in one of the highest-pressure situations of his young Major League career.
Tolman responded.
He recorded a strikeout and induced a 4-3 double play to escape the inning without allowing a run.
Tolman returned for the ninth and was even better, striking out all three batters he faced to secure his first Major League save.
It was an especially encouraging response from a Washington bullpen that entered Monday after suffering its 35th blown save of the season in Sunday’s 6-2 loss to Miami.
Nationals take three of four
Monday’s victory completed a productive four-game series for Washington.
The Nationals beat Miami 9-2 Friday before winning 5-4 in extra innings Saturday. The Marlins staged a dramatic six-run ninth-inning rally Sunday to steal a 6-2 victory, but Washington responded immediately Monday rather than allowing that defeat to carry over.
That gave the Nationals three victories in four games against an NL East opponent that entered the series still trying to stay connected to the National League Wild Card race.
Washington and Miami each finished Monday with 11 hits, but the Nationals capitalized when opportunities arrived and received the biggest performance of the night from one of their emerging young players.
MSB Take
This is exactly the type of September baseball the Nationals need from their young core.
Washington is not playing for a division championship, but the final month still matters because the organization needs to identify which players should be central pieces of the next competitive Nationals roster.
Lile is making his case loudly.
Twenty home runs at 23 years old is impressive by itself. More important is the way he is hitting. Lile is not simply running into occasional home runs. His plate discipline, ability to use the entire field and growing confidence are starting to translate into consistent production.
Monday was a perfect example.
Washington fell behind 3-0 and could have faded away after Sunday’s brutal ninth-inning collapse. Instead, Lile almost single-handedly changed the game with two two-run homers.
Tolman’s performance was nearly as encouraging.
Entering with the bases loaded and nobody out in the eighth inning is a difficult assignment for any reliever, much less a rookie. Tolman escaped without allowing a run and then struck out the side in the ninth for his first MLB save.
Those are the moments the Nationals need during September.
Wins matter, but development matters even more.
If Lile can establish himself as a legitimate middle-of-the-order threat and young arms such as Tolman can prove they belong in high-leverage situations, Washington will leave 2026 with significantly more clarity about its future than it had entering the season.
Monday’s 6-3 victory offered another glimpse of what that future could look like.
