Instant Analysis: Marlins 4, Nats 1
Miami once again pulled away late to sweep the Nationals, who suddenly have a losing record again
The Marlins, for whatever reason, remain the Nationals’ Kryptonite.
With a third consecutive tight game lost late, the Nats were swept by Miami, spoiling their positive vibes from a winning month of May and putting them back under .500 for the season. They’ve now gone 1-5 against the Marlins over the last month, 15-8 vs. everyone else.
In another low-scoring ballgame this afternoon, the Marlins finally broke through in the eighth against Clayton Beeter, who nearly escaped a bases-loaded jam but ultimately surrendered a two-out, two-run single to No. 9 hitter Joe Mack to give Miami the lead. The Nationals, whose potent lineup was held in check throughout this series, had their quietest day yet, held to three singles and three walks by the Marlins pitching staff.
Needing a solid start to give their offense a chance to break out of their recent funk, the Nationals got one from Andrew Alvarez. The left-hander, now officially taking over Jake Irvin’s rotation spot, allowed Esteury Ruiz’s solo homer in the second but nothing else over 4 2/3 innings, with some help from Nasim Nuñez on back-to-back impressive defensive plays from the electric second baseman.
Brad Lord replaced Alvarez with two outs in the fifth and pitched out of jams in that inning and the sixth as well. And the Nats needed it, because they managed to score only one run to that point off Miami starter Max Meyer. And even that required a misplay by Otto Lopez on Dylan Crews’ sharp grounder to a drawn-in shortstop with the bases loaded in the third.
They needed Beeter to pitch out of a couple jams as well, and though the right-hander pulled it off in the seventh, he couldn’t do it again in the eighth. And when Gus Varland became the third straight reliever to give up tack-on runs in the ninth, the Nationals found themselves staring at a series sweep.
HITTING LOWLIGHT: What happened to the most-productive lineup in baseball? It went ice cold the last three days, for two prominent reasons: 1) The Nationals couldn’t hit for power, and 2) They couldn’t deliver in clutch situations. They managed only one home run in this series, and that came from Jacob Young way back on Monday night. And they went just 2-for-19 with runners in scoring position, including 0-for-8 in today’s finale.
PITCHING HIGHLIGHT: Though we’d already seen plenty of him prior to today, this was actually Alvarez’s first MLB start of the season. And he pitched just as well in his natural role as he has as a bulk reliever. The left-hander made one costly mistake, grooving a 3-1 fastball to Ruiz for a solo homer in the second. Otherwise, he was in control throughout, striking out five while walking two (both in his final inning of work). In the bigger picture, Alvarez is further proving himself worthy of a continued spot on the big-league staff. He’s now pitched 43 2/3 major-league innings since September, during which time he has produced a 2.89 ERA, 1.168 WHIP and nearly one strikeout per inning pitched. In other words, he’s been highly effective.
NOTABLE: The Marlins out-homered the Nationals, 8-1, during this three-game series despite entering it ranked 28th in the majors in home runs.
UP NEXT: After a day off in the desert, the Nats open their first West Coast trip of the season Friday night in Arizona. It’ll be Foster Griffin on the mound at 9:40 p.m. EDT against a to-be-named starter for the Diamondbacks. TV: Nationals TV RADIO: 106.7 FM
Alvarez is making the most of the opportunity he has earned. Great to see!
So so so glad this series is finally over. The Marlins are actually so irritating. They roll over for every team but us, why?