Washington Nationals at Miami Marlins

The final sprint in a months-long marathon is upon us, and with it comes a sense of urgency. After Sunday afternoon’s 6-2 victory over the Nationals at loanDepot park, 31 games remain for the Marlins to make up ground in the National League Wild Card standings. Miami (67-64) now has a 7.6 percent chance of making the postseason and sits four games behind San Diego (71-60) for the final WC spot. If the Marlins wanted to stay in the race, they needed to bounce back from a sweep against the Phillies. They did that by winning their eighth in a row against the Nats -- only the second time this season a Major League club has put together that kind of dominant stretch against an opponent (D-backs vs. Giants from May 18-June 30). “This was certainly a very important series with where we are in the calendar, and being at home and having a chance to do that today,” said manager Clayton McCullough, whose club guaranteed a winning record at home. Although it wasn’t much different from what he has done this season, McCullough was aggressive with his pitching strategy to chase down the victory. Right-hander Janson Junk had allowed just one run through 4 2/3 innings before McCullough turned to fireman Michael Petersen with a pair of runners on base -- both via a hit-by-pitch -- and the game tied at 1. “We know how important every win is going to be here down the stretch,” McCullough said. “It's not a lack of confidence in others, but it's also as much as every day we play a game, we have one less, and every win here is going to be important. So I think the aggressiveness, as you said, will be here down the stretch.” It would be understandable to consider this a blow to one’s pride as a competitor. Junk wouldn’t qualify for the win when the offense scored two runs in the bottom half of the frame on Xavier Edwards’ two-out single. “I think you just kind of hit it: the greater good of the team,” said Junk, who was at 69 pitches. “If the bullpen can do it that day, then I'm totally fine with that. Obviously, I would like to finish that out, kind of what I started, just because I felt like I was in a good position. I was still feeling good, but overall, I trust the bullpen to come in there any moment and get us out of those situations. In the moment, I would be more frustrated about myself.” Petersen would load the bases with a walk, then struck out Abimelec Ortiz on a slider to squash the threat.