Nationals 9, Marlins 2: Kent's First Win, House's Three-Run Homer

Three walks on 14 pitches. Then House went 445 feet.

August 28, 2026 – Washington – Xavier Edwards had already singled Javier Sanoja home. The Miami Marlins led 1-0 in the second at Nationals Park.

Eury Pérez walked the first three hitters of the third on 14 pitches. Washington scored two on a wild pitch and a throwing error. Brady House hit a three-run homer to left-center, 445 feet, his 10th. The Washington Nationals led 5-1 and never gave it back.

Jackson Kent threw seven innings of one-run ball for his first major league win. Washington won 9-2.

Kent's fourth start finally looked like a start

Kent had not finished five innings in the majors. On Friday he threw 106 pitches, three hits, one run, four walks, three strikeouts. He faced Miami for the second straight start. He got 12 groundouts. That is how an 0-2 pitcher gets to 1-2.

Pérez lasted three innings, five earned, five strikeouts, four walks. Forty-one of his 74 pitches came in the third. Andrés Chaparro scored on the wild pitch. Jacob Young scored when catcher Joe Mack's throw went away. CJ Abrams moved to second. Daylen Lile was on when House connected. 5-1, and the inning that walked in the door left as a three-run homer.

The Nationals had scored 15 runs over their last seven games against Miami and had lost eight straight in the series. Friday they scored nine.

Four more in the seventh. Hernández's homer was too late.

Harry Ford led off the seventh with his third homer, a fly to center. Dylan Crews doubled Chaparro and Abimelec Ortiz home. Lile tripled Crews in, his sixth triple. 9-1. Crews has reached in eight straight games. Patrick Monteverde absorbed the four runs in four innings of relief.

Heriberto Hernández homered in the eighth off Max Kranick, his 21st and his fifth in nine games against Washington this season. 9-2. Kranick finished the last two innings. Kent did not need a save. He needed seven innings and a lineup that finally punched Miami.

Washington had seven hits and nine runs. Miami had five hits and one error. The third inning and the seventh inning were the whole offensive story. House's one swing sat in the middle of it.

AthX Engine put Washington first on a 15-game night

AthX Engine put Washington at 19 team fantasy points, first on Friday's slate. Kent scored 19 pitching FP in a first career win. A seven-inning, one-run line with a three-run homer behind it is how a club owns a daily board without needing 15 hits.

Fantasy points measure the night. They are not share price.

What's next

Cade Cavalli is lined up against Sandy Alcantara on Saturday. Washington just snapped an eight-game series skid with nine runs. Miami has to throw strikes in the third inning or House will keep doing this.

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*Sources: MLB Gameday, ESPN recap, MLB schedule, AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*