Nationals Reaction: 4-Run 2nd Leads To Win On Werth’s Birthday
Check out our three takeaways from last night’s 4-1 Nationals win over the Miami Marlins
Last night, the Nationals (26-16) defeated the Miami Marlins (21-20) in the first game of their three game series as they are now 3-1 on this current six-game road trip. It only took one inning for the Nats to score all their runs, but it ended up being the difference as the team scored all four runs in the second inning.
Dusty Baker decided to give Ben Revere the night off as Michael Taylor took his spot in center field and in the leadoff spot of the batting order. One of those runs in the second came via a two-run home run by Taylor against Justin Nicolino. Taylor was one of two home runs in the inning along with first baseman Ryan Zimmerman.
As for Tanner Roark, he had lost his prior three outings to the Marlins this season, but he bounced back in a big way as he held the Miami offense to one run and pitched into the seventh inning. The only mistake that Roark made in the game was when Marcell Ozuna hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth inning.
With the win, the Nats are now ten games over .500 and they lead the Phillies by two games in the NL East heading into today’s action. Before Joe Ross (who turned 23 today) takes on Marlins’ ace Jose Fernandez tonight at Marlins Park (7:15 p.m ET, FOX), check out my three takeaways from last night’s 4-1 win:
Next: Werth Has Big Day On Birthday
Werth Has Big Day On His Birthday
Yesterday, Jayson Werth turned 37 years old and had another strong performance. He was one of only two Nats to have a multi-hit game last night along with Anthony Rendon. Since Werth and Rendon switched places in the batting order, the left fielder is 5-for-14 with two doubles and three runs scored.
Werth got the Nationals’ first hit of the night when he singled to left against Nicolino. His other hit of the game came in the eighth when he was able to hit a double past Ozuna in center field. However, those weren’t the highlights of his birthday.
That highlight came on defense in the bottom of the seventh. Adeiny Hechavarria was trying to reach second base, but Werth made a great throw right to the second base bag, where Daniel Murphy was able to tag him out. Miami would challenge the call, but the play stood.
While Werth only has one assist in the outfield, he has yet to make an error in left season as he continues to grow defensively at the position. Plus, as William Ladson of MLB.com tweeted out yesterday during the game, Werth tends to have good games on his birthday:
Since joining the #Nats (2011), Jayson Werth has hit .461 (6-for-13) with 2 HR & 5 RBI on his birthday, including going 2-for-4 tonight.#MLB
— William Ladson (@ladsonbill24) May 21, 2016
As we saw last night, Werth has been a success at the top of the order. Last night, he saw 26 pitches in his five at-bats, which was the most of any player in the Nats’ lineup.
Even though he is getting the night off against Fernandez (Chris Heisey gets the start), Werth has still made an impact on offense since Baker moved him to a different spot in the lineup. As for Rendon, he has also had a good four games in Werth’s old spot (8-for-14, four RBI’s).
Next: Roark Finally Beats Marlins
Roark Finally Beats Marlins
If it weren’t for the Miami Marlins, Tanner Roark would be having a fantastic season. Nevertheless, he finally got that elusive first win of 2016 against Miami last night. The right-hander went 6.2 innings, gave up one run on six hits, struck out seven, and walked two on 108 pitches (72 strikes) to pick up his third win of the season.
Even though Roark continued his streak of walking two or more batters in every game and he only threw 14 first pitch strikes to the 27 batters he faced, he still put together a strong outing.
In that fourth inning, Ozuna hit a 3-2 changeup over the wall in left on the ninth pitch of the at-bat. However, Ozuna has had success against Roark all season (5-for-12, one home run, five RBI’s, four runs scored).
The pitch that was working for Roark last night was his slider. According to Brooks Baseball, out of the 21 sliders that he threw, 14 of them went for strikes and only three of them were hit into play. Plus, three of his seven strikeouts ended with a slider.
With that win last night, Roark lowered his season ERA against Miami from 8.40 to 6.23 and he picked up his first win of the month in four starts. Even though he has had its struggles, Roark bounced back in a big way.
One inning that stood out from his outing came in the fifth inning. With two outs, Derek Dietrich reached base via a walk and Martin Prado singled to left. Christian Yelich came up as the tying run, but he hit a groundball right at Roark to end the inning. Last night, the Marlins were 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.
Next: Kelley Kills Marlins Rally In 8th Inning
Kelley Kills Marlins Rally In 8th Inning
After Felipe Rivero got the final two outs of the seventh, he ran into trouble in the eighth when he allowed Yelich to single to begin the inning. With Stanton coming to the plate, Baker turned to Shawn Kelley to try to get out of trouble.
Even though Stanton is one of the best hitters in the league, Kelley was able to get him to miss a slider for a huge strikeout to end the inning. By the way, Stanton is now 0-for-3 with three strikeouts against Kelley in his career. Plus, had three strikeouts in last night’s game against the Washington Nationals’ pitchers as his batting average dropped to .164 this month.
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Then, with Ozuna at the plate, Kelley got him to line out to Murphy, who threw the ball right back to first to double up Yelich and end the inning. Right now, Kelley has been one of the best relievers in the bullpen as he has yet to give up an earned run this season.
Ever since that Opening Day meltdown against the Braves, the 32-year-old right-hander has only walked one batter in his last 18 appearances. That walk came on May 7 against the Cubs.
Next: Ross Looks To Get Back On Track Vs. Marlins
As for the strikeouts, Kelley’s 21 K’s are second on the team behind Rivero (24) and he has held opponents to a.185 batting average while not giving up a home run. While it is early in the season, Kelley is proving to be a good signing when the Washington Nationals gave him that three-year deal this winter.