Washington Nationals vs. Miami Marlins

Shortstop Ian Desmond then flied out to end the inning, and the Nationals still trailed, 4-2. So he politely asked manager Matt Williams to leave him in, and Williams respectfully obliged. It was a bit awkward given Scherzer’s show of emotions, but there’s no manager that would frown on his ace taking charge like Scherzer did on Friday night. For Friday’s game the Nationals start Max Scherzer who has allowed 162 hits and 64 earned runs while striking out 231 over 198 innings for a 12-11 record and a 2.91 ERA.

So just how exactly do the Nationals go about doing it? Only two games this season has the Nationals started their starting eight field players. the leagueOne reason the Nationals find themselves a long shot to catch the Mets is because they’ve struggled with the Marlins.

Marlins: 3B Martin Prado had a black brace on his left wrist and sat out a second consecutive game. But whatever the cause, Scherzer was not the same pitcher once the seventh month of the year rolled around.

Fernandez was not involved in the decision as he allowed five hits and two runs while throwing 95 pitches in 5 2/3 innings. The Nationals trail the New York Mets by seven games now with three remaining between the two clubs. His base running is certainly not the reason the Nationals lost the game or why they have underperformed this year.

As for the Nationals, they have no choice but to focus on the here and now.

The Miami Marlins aren’t playing favorites in the NL East race. Nicolino was taken deep twice by New York and has allowed five homers in his last five outings.

Desmond tied it in the second with his 18th homer of the season, a liner into the visitor’s bullpen.

Brad Hand did Miami no favors as he walked six in only 4.2 innings.

But from there, Scherzer buckled down. He walked three hitters for the game and managed to strike out six. Whatever jams he got himself into, he worked out of.

Washington reliever Blake Treinen came on the eighth with no outs and two runners on and induced a double play grounder off the bat of center fielder Marcell Ozuna. He was in scoring position, which meant a hit in nearly any form would score him, and put the Nationals in a 3-2 hole. He wasn’t trying to keep secrets. “So I know they’re definitely not the loosest bunch right now”. “The whole place was going bananas and I was like, ‘Holy s-, we did it!’ But until that happened, you don’t realize it. You never get that sense until you actually do it”.

“I asked him, I said “You want it?’ and he said ‘Yeah”… among other things”, Williams said.

Matt Williams nodded, turned around, and stalked back to the dugout.

A few mistakes up in the zone cost him, Roark explained. But the truth is that Nats fans should find more excitement in that moment than in the walk-off win that will likely mean little in the grand scheme of things. But his performance was overshadowed by his exchange with Williams.

The Marlins had evened the series the night before with a barrage of hits, including a double from Tom Koehler, the first of his career.