Josh Bell went 4-for-6 with two home runs and six RBIs to help the visiting Washington Nationals post a 15-7 victory over the Miami Marlins on Monday.
Dylan Crews had three hits, including a homer, and drove in four for Washington (59-84), which matched its season high in runs and hits (19). Luis Garcia Jr. homered and James Wood added three hits for the Nationals, who have won three straight and six of seven.
Washington starter Cade Cavalli (3-1) allowed two runs on six hits across five innings, striking out one and walking one.
Victor Mesa Jr. hit his first career homer, a three-run shot for Miami (66-78), which has dropped six of seven. Jakob Marsee also went deep. Janson Junk (6-3) gave up six runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings while striking out three and walking two.
The Nationals took an early lead in the second inning as Garcia belted his 13th homer of the season for a 1-0 edge.
After Miami’s Otto Lopez singled and stole second to begin the second, Liam Hicks singled the runner to third and Heriberto Hernandez delivered an RBI single to knot the score.
Washington regained the lead in the fourth on Crews’ run-scoring single.
In the fifth, Washington’s CJ Abrams led off with a double before scoring on Bell’s single to right. Daylen Lile then singled and Garcia walked to load the bases, chasing Junk from the game. Reliever Seth Martinez entered for Miami and permitted Riley Adams’ single to center, pushing Washington’s lead to 4-1.
After Paul DeJong’s sacrifice fly extended the margin to four, Crews’ eighth homer of the season broke the game open and gave the Nationals an 8-1 lead.
Mesa doubled and Xavier Edwards slashed an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth to cut the Marlins’ deficit to six.
Against Miami reliever Josh Simpson in the sixth, Wood doubled and Bell hit a 431-foot, two-run homer to give the Nationals a 10-2 lead. DeJong tacked on another run with a two-out infield RBI single off Simpson.
The onslaught continued in the seventh, as Abrams’ double was followed by Bell’s second two-run homer in as many innings. It was Bell’s 19th of the year.
Washington reliever Shinnosuke Ogasawara allowed Maximo Acosta’s RBI single and Mesa’s three-run homer in the eighth, pulling Miami within seven runs.
Wood and Bell each tallied run-scoring singles in the ninth to cap the Nationals’ scoring. Marsee hit his fifth homer of the year in the bottom of the ninth.
