Instant Analysis: Marlins 7, Nats 3
Cade Cavalli departed in the sixth with the Nationals ahead, but the bullpen proceeded to give up three homers and take the loss
As well as the Nationals have been playing over the last month, the Marlins very much remain a thorn in their side.
With three home runs off relievers, Miami flipped the script of tonight’s series opener and beat the Nats for the third time in four head-to-head matchups this season. They’ve gone 15-8 vs. everyone else since May 3.
A long top of the first that included three walks – one with the bases loaded – left Cade Cavalli in a quick 1-0 hole and seemed to set a negative tone for the night. But the right-hander managed to keep the early damage to a minimum and then enjoyed a sustained run of success from the third through the fifth innings without allowing another run.
The Nationals had given Cavalli a 3-1 lead thanks to a couple of big swings off Sandy Alcantara. Jacob Young belted yet another homer (his eighth of the season) in the bottom of the second. Curtis Mead then came through with a two-out RBI single in the third.
But like his counterpart, Alcantara settled in and cruised after that, making it through the seventh without allowing another run. By then, the Marlins had retaken the lead, scoring three runs in the top of the sixth while Richard Lovelady was on the mound in relief of Cavalli, with pinch-hitter Heriberto Hernandez’s two-run homer the big blast.
Paxton Schultz did his part to keep the deficit at one run with 2 1/3 perfect innings of relief. But Cole Henry gave up two home runs in the top of the ninth, all but negating a realistic shot at a bottom-of-the-ninth rally.
HITTING HIGHLIGHT: The most unexpected power surge in team history continues. When Young connected off Alcantara in the bottom of the second, he raised his home run total to eight, three more than he hit in the first three seasons of his major-league career. Most of them have been pulled to straightaway left field, and most of them have cleared the fence with plenty of room to spare. Young has clearly tapped into something. And the longer he keeps it up, the more sustainable it feels.
PITCHING HIGHLIGHT: Cavalli’s night got off to a ragged start, one that made you wonder how long he’d be for this game. But he brushed off that three-walk top of the first and quickly found his groove, getting stronger as the night progressed. Cavalli retired 10-of-11 batters at one point and finished off the top of the fifth with back-to-back strikeouts of Kyle Stowers and Xavier Edwards. With his starter’s pitch count at 86, manager Blake Butera let him take the mound to face one more batter in the sixth. Cavalli wound up allowing a leadoff single to Leo Jimenez, who would then score on Hernandez’s subsequent homer off Lovelady. That left Cavalli charged with a second run, but that didn’t diminish the job he did tonight to bounce back from his suspect first inning.
NOTABLE: With two hits off Alcantara tonight, Mead raised his OPS vs. right-handers this season to .959.
UP NEXT: Miles Mikolas is scheduled to start for the Nats on Tuesday at 6:45 p.m. Eury Perez was supposed to start for the Marlins, who have not yet named a replacement for the injured right-hander. TV: Nationals TV RADIO: 106.7 FM
Thorn in the side Marlins. Ugh.
Tough game to watch.