Neither club has anything left to play for beyond pride. Washington sits at 64-73 and Miami at 68-67, both fully out of the race, which made Cavalli's continued emergence as the Nationals' clearest bright spot the real substance of the afternoon — a former top prospect finally healthy and pitching like the front-of-rotation arm the org has waited years for.
Washington jumped first, plating 4 in the third. Miami didn't blink, answering with 4 of its own in the seventh to tie it back up — a reminder that whatever the bullpen questions, Alcantara had given his lineup enough runway to work with. It stayed knotted until Washington scratched across the winning run in the bottom of the ninth, capping a game that swung fully twice before it was decided.
This is the third meeting of a four-game set — Miami took the opener 6-2 on August 23, Washington answered with a 9-2 blowout on August 28, and the two are back at it again Sunday before the series closes. The seesaw nature of it tracks with two clubs playing out the string: neither has separated itself, and neither figures to until one pitching staff actually holds up for a full week.
For Washington, the encouraging thread is that a game like this — tied late, bullpen taxed — is exactly the kind Cavalli's breakout season was supposed to help them steal more of. For Miami, it's the same old problem: a good starter buys them six or seven innings, and the pen behind him keeps shrinking by the week.