Washington Nationals at Miami Marlins: Final Score & Recap

The Miami Marlins walked off the Washington Nationals 3-2 on August 21, 2026, at loanDepot park, rallying from a deficit in the final innings to secure the victory. The game was scoreless through five innings before Keibert Ruiz gave Washington the lead in the sixth with a home run off Tyler Zuber, a swing that carried a win-probability impact of plus 14.3 percent according to the DiamondIQ model's estimate. The Nationals added another run in the ninth, and Washington's Daylen Lile delivered the biggest single play of the game by WPA, a single off Pete Fairbanks in the top of the ninth that shifted win probability by plus 32.5 percent in Washington's favor and briefly made it a two-run game heading into the bottom half.

Miami answered immediately and decisively. The Marlins mounted their comeback against Clayton Beeter in the eighth, where Jakob Marsee's triple off Tom Cosgrove registered a plus 18.9 percent win-probability swing, and Otto Lopez followed with a single off Beeter worth plus 19.2 percent, knotting or cutting into the deficit and setting the stage for the final frame. In the bottom of the ninth, Esteury Ruiz delivered the game-winning single off Beeter, a plus 21.5 percent swing that closed out the contest and pushed the DiamondIQ model's estimate to 100 percent in Miami's favor.

Among individual performers, Daylen Lile led all batters with a plus 26.2 percent WPA and an RE24 of plus 0.8, while Jakob Marsee posted plus 21.5 percent WPA and the game's best RE24 at plus 1.1. Esteury Ruiz contributed plus 16.9 percent WPA on his decisive hit. On the pitching side, Orlando Ribalta led Miami's staff with plus 16.8 percent WPA, while Will Dion and Cade Gibson each contributed plus 15.2 percent. Washington finished with nine hits but the single error and an inability to hold the late lead proved costly, as the Marlins' final line of three runs on six hits and no errors told the story of a cleaner execution when it mattered most.