Miami 7 at Washington 4 - Recap

WASHINGTON -- Justin Bour had three hits and drove in two runs and Christian Yelich had two hits, including a homer, and two RBIs as the Miami Marlins beat the Washington Nationals 7-4 on a rainy Friday night.

The Nationals (93-67) began the day with a magic number of two to clinch home-field advantage for the National League Division Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers that starts Oct. 7. Miami (79-80) needs to win the last two games to finish with a winning record.

Washington can clinch the home-field edge with wins in the last two games regardless of what the Dodgers do.

Marcell Ozuna added two hits for the Marlins, including an RBI single in the eighth to make it 7-4.

Yelich hit a solo homer off left-handed reliever Sean Burnett, who had just entered the game, to give Miami an edge of 6-4 in the seventh.

The Marlins grabbed a 5-4 lead in the sixth when Dee Gordon beat out an infield RBI single. His hit scored Bour, who had doubled. Washington native Bour is a product of nearby George Mason University in Virginia.

The winning pitcher was Mike Dunn (6-1), who pitched a perfect fifth, and Sammy Solis (2-4) was the loser as he gave up one run in 1 1/3 innings. Solis allowed the double in the sixth to Bour, who later scored to break the tie.

Miami's David Phelps fanned all three batters in the eighth and A.J. Ramos pitched the ninth for his 40th save of the season.

The Miami bullpen retired the first 12 batters they faced starting in the fifth before Clint Robinson drew a walk to lead off the ninth. Bryce Harper, in his first game since Sunday, struck out in all four at-bats.

Trea Turner and Robinson had two hits for the Nationals, who are stumbling toward the finish with a 5-8 record since Sept. 17.

Bour and Adeiny Hechavarria had RBI singles in the second to give the Marlins a 2-0 lead against Washington starter A.J. Cole.

Miami made it 4-0 in the third as Yelich drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and Bour drove in another run with a single. Both runs were unearned as Derek Dietrich began the inning by reaching second when second baseman Stephen Drew dropped his popup.

But the Nationals tied the score at 4 with four runs in the fourth against Marlins starter Andrew Cashner.

Anthony Rendon hit a solo homer to put Washington on the board. It was the 20th homer of the year for Rendon as he joined five teammates with at least 20 homers. That ties a National League record held by the Milwaukee Braves in 1965 and the Atlanta Braves in 2003.

Drew followed with a solo homer to center to make it 4-2. Jose Lobaton had an RBI double and Trea Turner tied the score with an RBI single, though Wilmer Difo was thrown out at third on the play as the call stood after a challenge by Washington.

Cole gave up four runs (two earned) and six hits in three innings before he was lifted for pinch-hitter Ben Revere in the third.

Mat Latos pitched a scoreless fourth for the Nationals and recorded the 1,000th strikeout of his career. Solis pitched a scoreless fifth for Washington.

Cashner allowed four runs and seven hits in four innings before Mike Dunn came on the fifth as a light rain fell. Cashner was 0-6 in 14 road starts this year and is 0-3 in four career starts in Washington.

NOTES: The start of the game was delayed 1 hour, 43 minutes by rain ... A moment of silence was held before the game for RHP Jose Fernandez, the Marlins ace who died in a boating accident Sunday. ... Washington RF Bryce Harper was in the lineup for the first time since he left Sunday's game in Pittsburgh with a thumb injury. He was injured when he slid into third after a fake tag by Pirates 3B Jung Ho Kang. Washington RHP A.J. Cole was later ejected from that game after he threw a pitch behind Kang. Cole was the starter Friday after he appealed a five-game suspension from MLB. ... Nationals RHP Tanner Roark (15-10, 2.86) will face Marlins LHP Wei-Yin Chen (5-4, 5.02) on Saturday. ... Washington LHP Gio Gonzalez attended the memorial service on Thursday in Florida for Fernandez. Both pitchers have Cuban heritage and became friends in the past few years. ... Nationals RHP Reynaldo Lopez, who got the win Thursday over Arizona, was named the Nationals minor league pitcher of the year Friday. He is 5-3, with a 4.57 ERA in 10 games, with six starts, for the Nationals after going 5-7 with a 3.21 ERA in 19 starts in the minors.