A day after matching their best offensive performance of the season, the visiting Washington Nationals hope their late-season momentum carries into a series win against the reeling Miami Marlins on Tuesday.

Washington (59-84) tied its season highs for runs and hits (19) on Monday, bludgeoning the Marlins for a 15-7 win. The Nationals, doing their best to avoid a 100-loss season, enter Tuesday as winners of three in a row and six of the past seven.

With less than three weeks left in a campaign that will see Washington miss the postseason for the sixth straight year, the club has virtually the same winning percentage under interim manager Miguel Cairo (22-31, .415) as it did when Dave Martinez was fired on July 6 (37-53, .411).

Playing for the future, the Nationals hope nights like Monday

See Full Page