The Washington Nationals can tie for the top spot in the NL for best road record with a win tonight in Miami. This is actually the Nationals first series in Miami this season, and with a domed stadium, we do not have to worry about the rain in south-Florida.
The Marlins just lost their last 2 games via the walk-off as their bullpen imploded. The Nationals who were accused of poor bullpen performance have been perfect in save opportunities for the last week. Of course, the Nationals hope these trends continue. The Marlins were briefly in 2nd place on Friday night, but quickly fell into 4th place behind the Mets and Braves. The Mets get to face Clayton Kershaw in Los Angeles tonight if you want to watch that game after the conclusion of the Nats game.
Tonight’s game features Tanner Roark for the Nationals and left-handed Justin Nicolino for the Marlins. Bryce Harper hits Nicolino well and Ryan Zimmerman and Michael Taylor both have home runs off of Nicolino. Trea Turner is 1-for-2 and has an opportunity to improve his stats against lefties.
“We were hoping he would join us [in Miami] but he’s still receiving therapy,” manager Dusty Baker said today. “We’ll see him when we get home. I’m hoping he’s getting better.”
“No. He’s swimming and doing all the core work to try to stay in the best shape he can until he comes back. We’ll get a better look at him when we get home. He has to get that toe right, and then get into baseball shape.”
The Nationals will put Ryan Raburn into the second spot in the line-up to be more right-handed tonight against Nicolino.
Washington Nationals at Miami Marlins
Stadium: Marlins Park, 501 Marlins Way (NW 16th Avenue), Miami, Florida 33125
1st Pitch: 7:10 pm EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB Network (out-of-market), FOX Sports Florida, MLB.TV
Nats Radio: 106.7 FM The Fan; SiriusXM® (Internet 869)
Line-ups (subject to change without notice):
- Trea Turner SS
- Ryan Raburn LF
- Bryce Harper RF
- Ryan Zimmerman 1B
- Daniel Murphy 2B
- Anthony Rendon 3B
- Matt Wieters C
- Michael Taylor CF
- Tanner Roark RHP
