Washington Nationals Recap: Nats Shutout By Marlins As They Drop 5th Straight Game
By Ricky Keeler
The month of September continues to be a bad month for the Washington Nationals (71-70). After scoring one run against the Miami Marlins (61-81) last night, Washington could not find a way to get on the board against Jose Fernandez (5-0, 2.06 ERA) or any of the pitchers in Miami’s bullpen. Even though Tanner Roark (4-5, 4.38) was okay, the Nats dropped their fifth straight game by a final score of 2-0.
The game was scoreless for the first three innings, but Miami would score their first run in the top of the fourth. Christian Yelich led off the inning with a double against Roark and Martin Prado drew a walk. Even though it appeared Roark got out of the inning by getting Justin Bour to ground into a double play, Roark hit Derek Dietrich with a pitch to keep the inning going. That would come back to bite the Nats as J.T. Realmuto would single to right to drive in Yelich and give Miami a 1-0 lead.
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The Marlins would tack on one more run in the bottom of the fifth. After back-to-back singles by Tomas Telis (who was pinch-hitting for Fernandez) and Dee Gordon, Yelich grounded into a rare 1-6-5 double play. Telis was originally ruled safe at third on the play, but the Nats challenged the call and it was overturned. But, a Prado single chased Roark from the game.
Matt Williams would turn to Sammy Solis to try to get out of the fifth inning, but Bour doubled the Marlins’ lead to two with a base hit to left that drove in Yelich. As for Roark’s night, he failed to get out of the fifth inning for the second straight start. He went 4.2 innings, gave up two runs on eight hits, struck out two, and walked one on 69 pitches in the loss.
As for the Nats’ offense, they were outhit by the Marlins, 12-3, and they could not get much going against Fernandez, who was making his first start since August 7. The Marlins’ right-hander went five innings, gave up no runs on two hits, struck out seven, and walked one on 69 pitches in the win. The only two hits against him were singles by Anthony Rendon in the first and Bryce Harper in the fourth.
Even though the offense did not do anything tonight, the bullpen was able to keep the team in the game. On a day where it was announced Drew Storen would be likely out for the season, the bullpen combination of Solis, Joe Ross, Matt Thornton, and Mark Grace combined to go 3.1 innings, gave up no runs on four hits, struck out two, and walked one.
The Nationals did not have many opportunities to drive in runs as the Marlins bullpen gave up one hit over the final four innings, but they made one last attempt at a comeback in the ninth. Against closer A.J. Ramos Rendon led off the inning with a double to left, but advanced to third because of an error by Yelich, who had moved from center field to left to start the inning. However, Ramos struck out Danny Espinosa, Harper, and Jayson Werth to end the game and record his 27th save of the season.
Next Game: The Washington Nationals will look to avoid the sweep against the Miami Marlins tomorrow afternoon at Marlins Park. You can catch the game on MASN at 1:10 PM ET. Max Scherzer (11-11, 3.03) gets the start for the Nats against Brad Hand (4-5, 5.20) for the Marlins.
Next: Drew Storen Breaks Thumb, Likely Out For Season