Erik Tolman Records Career-First as Nationals Vanquish Some Demons Against Marlins
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On Sunday, the Washington Nationals suffered one of their most frustrating losses of the season.
While they have blown late leads throughout the 2026 campaign, the way they blew it against the Miami Marlins created a ton of exasperation. But with a chance to secure a rare series win over their divisional opponent, this young group had to pick themselves up off the mat for the finale.
The Nationals did exactly that on Monday with their 6-3 win. And they had to overcome some adversity to get it done, as this was a come-from-behind victory that featured one of their intriguing, young arms recording a career-first in impressive fashion.
Erik Tolman Gets First MLB Save
After going down 3-0 following a tough inning of work from top prospect Luis Perales where he gave up three earned runs on four hits and a walk in the top of the fourth inning, Washington was staring at a win after they came back to take a 6-3 lead after the seventh.
But in the top of the eighth, it looked like the Nationals might be getting ready to collapse again, as Matt Waldron -- who had been effective since being inserted in at the fifth-inning mark -- loaded up the bases with no outs. Manager Blake Butera called upon rookie left-hander Erik Tolman to get them out of the jam, and he lived up to the challenge and then some.
Facing Kyle Stowers in a crucial lefty-on-lefty matchup, Tolman got the slugger to strike out. Then, he induced an inning-ending double play that kept the Marlins from scoring to keep the game at 6-3 in favor of Washington. Butera sent Tolman back out there for the ninth, and the 27-year-old put an exclamation point on his outing by striking out the side to record his first major league save.
For those who don't know Tolman's story, he has overcome two Tommy John surgeries and a devastating leg injury that saw him tear numerous ligaments while his foot also got paralyzed. Even getting to this point was unlikely, but now that he's here, he is looking like a key piece of this bullpen going forward.
Nationals Finally Have Success Against Marlins
Before this series, it had not been pretty for the Nationals against their NL East foe.
In fact, Miami had swept Washington in their two prior series from June 1-3 and Aug. 21-23, and they had won eight out of the nine meetings this season. That's why getting this series victory was a big one for the Nationals, even if it should have been a sweep of their own if they hadn't blown the game on Sunday.
For Washington to get to where they want to be as contenders, they have to start improving against their divisional opponents. So by taking three out of four against a franchise that has owned them throughout this year, that at least allowed the Nationals to vanquish some demons.
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Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he worked at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Brad became the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continued to cover Penn State athletics. Currently, Brad is the Publisher for Washington Nationals On SI and covers multiple teams across the On SI network. He is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, where he and his co-host discuss topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai