Right-hander Max Scherzer did his job again, keeping the Marlins from a big inning, but two unearned runs late were the deciding factor in a 3-2 Nationals loss on Memorial Day at Nats Park.
It was too bad for Scherzer, because he was able to rebound from the last time he took on the Marlins in Miami, on April 20. The 9-3 loss that day was his worst outing of the season, in which he allowed seven runs (six earned) on 11 hits in 5 1/3 innings.
This time the Marlins saw him well early on again, tallying six hits - but just one run - in the first four frames. An RBI single by Neil Walker in the third gave the Fish a 1-0 lead.
"I was able to pound the zone, throw a ton of strikes," Scherzer said. "They did a great job of grinding me and just fouling balls off and just running the pitch count up and just making me work. I thought I made some good pitches, got some balls but kept them from scoring. (Kurt Suzuki) and I were working well. Zook was doing a great job behind the plate, and so I was able to give the team at least six innings. I gave the team a chance to win."
The Nats offense answered the call against right-hander José Ureña with two runs in the fifth.
Suzuki, who had the Nats' first hit of the game in the second inning, worked a walk to get the fifth inning started. Gerardo Parra, starting in center field for the 200th time in his career, doubled to put two runners in scoring position.
Brian Dozier brought Suzuki home with a sacrifice fly to center field. Scherzer helped himself with an RBI single to right field. Parra scored by sliding under the tag of catcher Jorge Alfaro following a nice throw from right fielder Garrett Cooper. The Nats led 2-1 after six innings.
Parra was outstanding on defense too, making high-leverage catches in center field, and delivering a perfect throw to Trea Turner at second base for a double play in the fourth.
"He's ... a veteran guy that can play all three outfield positions," said Nationals manager Davey Martinez. "As we talked about earlier, he has a cannon. He made an unbelievable play and threw the guy out at second base."
Scherzer had to leave after six innings because he was taxed for 103 pitches. Coming in, Scherzer had thrown 109 or more pitches in five straight starts. Martinez was not going to let that happen this time.
"(Y)ou look at the way the game was going, he had some high-leverage innings there," Martinez noted. "So that was good for him. He had a couple of 17-, 18-, 19-pitch innings, so he was good."
"They did a good job of fouling off the high fastball, the lefties on the cutters in," Scherzer said. "(Curtis) Granderson had a really long AB against me, and they were just grinding my at-bats, running up my pitch count.
"They got some guys that can just file some pitches. When do they get the mistakes, they're able to hit them. They were able to get some base hits. They know me. They've seen me over the years, they know what my pitches look like. So it's always a battle anytime I face them."
Facing the Nats bullpen, the Marlins tallied a pair of unearned runs in the seventh and eighth innings to take the lead for good.
In a close game, Martinez said those runs proved critical for a bullpen looking to get back on track. Tanner Rainey and Kyle Barraclough allowed the two runs, both unearned.
"We had two unearned runs today, and those guys came in and threw the ball really well," Martinez said. "Should have been out of the inning. We just didn't make two plays and it cost us two runs."
Miguel Rojas walked to lead off the seventh against Rainey. Ureña's sacrifice bunts moved Rojas to second, and Ureña reached when Matt Adams' tag dislodged the ball from the first baseman's glove. Adams was called for an error on the play.
"I was trying to tag the guy and didn't have a good grip on the ball, and his leg knocked it out of my glove," Adams said.
After a spectacular line drive catch in deep center by Parra, Harold Ramirez's groundout fielder's choice scored Rojas to tie the game at 2-2.
In the eighth facing Barraclough (1-2), the Marlins went ahead with the help of another error. After a one-out single by Starlin Castro, MartÃn Prado delivered a heavy chop grounder to Turner. The shortstop fielded the ball and threw a bit high to Adams. The ball glanced off Adams' glove and Prado was safe.
Turner was charged with the error. Castro went to third base.
"I just threw the ball high," Turner said. "I don't want to get it on the run. I felt like I knew I couldn't go to second, so I felt like I could set up and secure the ball and then make a good throw. Threw it too high."
Turner insisted that the play was not the result of a lingering problem with his right index finger, which he broke in early April. Asked when he thinks the finger will be fully healed, Turner replied: "I couldn't tell you."
After a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases, Rojas drilled a line drive to right field that was caught by Adam Eaton. The sacrifice fly brought home Castro with the go ahead run.
The Nats went after the Marlins bullpen in the eighth, loading the bases on a single by pinch-hitter Howie Kendrick and walks to Turner and Anthony Rendon. With two outs, Juan Soto lined out to left field to end the threat.
Closer Sergio Romo dispatched the Nats 1-2-3 in the ninth for his 10th save.
The Nats head to Atlanta now after winning three of four against Miami. Looking for the sweep, the Nats again could not muster enough runs to get Scherzer the win. Their record is 2-10 in Scherzer starts this season. After the game, Scherzer was not going to subscribe to the frustration of being a hard-luck pitcher.
"I don't know. You can write about that," Scherzer said. "I'm here to win ballgames. I want to go out there, I want to win every single time. That's every single player. It's not fun to sit here and you always reflect upon things that you could've done different anytime the team loses a ballgame.
"You always go back into 'What could I have done to help the ballclub out a little more?' and so that's the world I live in. I don't live in what I could be, or this or that. I live in winning and losing. It's frustrating when you pitch and you lose because no matter how well you pitch or how poorly you pitch, it doesn't matter. You always think 'What would it take to win the ballgame?"