District On Deck
FanSided

Nationals: Max Scherzer’s Strong Outing Leads To Win Over Marlins

By Matt Holleran

May 22, 2016; Miami, FL, USA; Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon (6) draws a walk during the sixth inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
May 22, 2016; Miami, FL, USA; Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon (6) draws a walk during the sixth inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Washington Nationals defeated the Miami Marlins 8-2 Sunday afternoon as they took two out of three in the series. 

Max Scherzer took the hill for the Washington Nationals in a key matchup against the Miami Marlins Sunday Afternoon. The Nats needed a good outing from Scherzer to win the series, and keep a 1.5 game lead over the New York Mets in the division, and their ace delivered in a big way.

As they have been prone to do early on in this season, the Washington Nationals got their offense going early in the top of the first inning. Ben Revere led off the game with a leadoff single and stole second to get into scoring position. After a productive out by Jayson Werth as he moved Revere to third, Bryce Harper hit a sac fly to center, scoring Revere and giving the Nats an early 1-0 lead.

The Nats kept their offense going in the top of the third. Revere led the inning off again with a bunt single. After a one out intentional walk to Harper, Revere stole third, which was his second stolen base of the game, and set up runners at the corners for Daniel Murphy. As he has done all season, Murphy came through, touching an RBI single up the middle to score Revere for the team’s second run of the day.

Later in the inning, Anthony Rendon ripped an RBI double down the left field line, scoring Murphy and extending the Nats lead to 3-0. Rendon has really started to heat up ever since his move to the six spot in the lineup, and him staying hot will be very vital to the Nats success moving forward in this season.

More from District on Deck

In the top of the sixth, the Nats got Scherzer even more insurance. Rendon and Ramos led the inning off with walks, setting up a big spot for Danny Espinosa with nobody out. Espinosa, who has struggled batting right handed this season, ripped an RBI single right up the middle, scoring Rendon to make it 4-0. After a sacrifice bunt by Scherzer, Revere laced a two-run single to right to extend the lead to 6-0.

Today was Revere’s first multi-hit game of the season as he drove in two runs and stole two bases in the win.  This is exactly what the Washington Nationals were looking for from Revere out of the leadoff spot this season. If he can get hot at the plate, it will make the Nats lineup much more dangerous.

Scherzer ran into trouble for the first time in the bottom of the seventh. After striking the first two batters out, Marcell Ozuna doubled and Justin Bour crushed a two-run homer to right field. Bour’s second home run in two days cut the Nats’ lead to 6-2.

The Nats padded their lead in the top of the ninth inning against Dustin McGowan. With two outs and two men on, Anthony Rendon tripled to right field, scoring Harper and Zimmerman to make the score 8-2.

Next: Reaction: Missed Opportunity Dooms Nats

As for Scherzer, he went eight innings, gave up two runs on six hits, struck out eight, and did not walk a batter on 103 pitches (76 strikes) in the win, his fifth of the season. Oliver Perez and Blake Treinen held Miami scoreless in the bottom of the ninth.

Next Game: Tomorrow night. the Washington Nationals (27-17) return home to take on the New York Mets (25-18) at Nationals Park. Gio Gonzalez (3-1 1.86) gets the ball for the Nats against  Bartolo Colon (3-3 3.75) for the Mets. You can catch the game on MASN at 7:05 p.m ET.

Home/Max Scherzer