If the Washington Nationals can overcome a scrum between their starting pitcher and third baseman, they should be able to brush aside just about anything.
The Nationals will try for their second straight win over the visiting Miami Marlins when the teams meet in the second game of a three-game series on Saturday afternoon.
Washington, which has won six of seven, took the series opener 8-1 on Friday night behind seven strong innings from MacKenzie Gore, who was shoved by third baseman Nick Senzel after the top of the second inning.
Gore didn’t think Senzel put enough on his throw to first with a runner on third and two outs, allowing light-hitting catcher Nick Fortes to beat out the throw and Tim Anderson to score from third, giving the Marlins an early 1-0 lead.
“You hope that’s private, sometimes it can’t be,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said of the dugout confrontation. “They’ll work it out, good teams usually work it out, and I know these guys are close. I see them every day, so they worked it out. It was good. MacKenzie went about his business, Nick went about his business, and everything’s good.”
Martinez said the Nationals proved all was well an inning later, when they strung together seven straight hits to start the third, including a three-run homer from Lane Thomas.
“All of a sudden, we cleared the air and here we go,” Martinez said. “The boys stepped up and we got some big runs, had a big inning, led by Lane. I loved the aggression, I loved the way we went out there and played. Everything’s good, can’t wait to play (Saturday).”
The Nationals plan to give rookie DJ Herz (0-1, 6.48 ERA) his third major league start on Saturday. He has yet to face the Marlins.
The 23-year-old left-hander has yet to go five innings, most recently allowing two runs and four hits in 4 1/3 innings during the Nationals’ 8-5 win against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday.
Herz struggled during the second inning, needing 33 pitches to get through a frame that included two hits, two walks and two wild pitches, but he settled in and retired eight of the next nine batters.
“I just needed a reset,” Herz said. “Let it go. Move on to the next. Go back out there. These guys are going to put runs up, and sure enough, it happened.”
The Marlins plan to start left-hander Trevor Rogers (1-7, 5.37 ERA) on Saturday.
Rogers has made nine career starts against the Nationals, going 3-3 with a 3.48 ERA.
His only win this season came when he blanked the Detroit Tigers over five innings on May 15. In two of his past three starts, he held the opposition to one run while pitching at least five innings, but failed to get a decision in either contest.
Anderson continues to be the hottest hitter for the Marlins, going 3-for-4 on Friday to improve to 9-for-16 in his past four games since returning from a three-game bereavement absence. He has raised his batting from .188 to .221 in that span.
“The hits are getting through,” Miami manager Skip Schumaker said. “That’s just baseball. It’s tough to figure out sometimes, but I feel like since he’s come back, he’s gotten a little bit more in his legs and he’s hitting the ball hard. The ground balls are getting through, though the line drives are getting caught. It’s what drives you crazy as a hitter, it’s just balls are now getting through for him.”
–Field Level Media