Miami Marlins at Washington Nationals

The Marlins have made the Nationals throw strikes all series. On Sunday afternoon, that finally paid off in a six-run ninth-inning rally and a 6-2 victory at Nationals Park. After Esteury Ruiz’s bunt single, two walks and a hit batter, Joe Mack hit a tying sacrifice fly, then Miami scored the go-ahead run when center fielder Andrew Pinckney’s throw sailed into the Marlins’ dugout. Jakob Marsee swiped home on a double steal and Otto Lopez crushed a two-run shot to left -- his 10th homer of the season -- to complete the rally that pulled the Marlins (69-68) within three games of the Padres (72-65) in the battle for the final National League Wild Card. “We never stopped competing until the end and we created a situation,” Lopez said. “We just feel like, no matter what, we’ve got to finish the game.” Dax Fulton allowed one run in the eighth but earned his first MLB victory, while Michael Peterson worked the ninth. Lopez’s round-tripper was only the fourth hit of the third game of a wraparound series that began with a pair of frustrating defeats for a Marlins team trying to stay in contention.