Marlins edge Nationals, 1-0
Marquee players keep playoff hopes alive.
MIAMI— For a while, it appeared Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez wasn’t going to receive any help.
He did most of the early heavy lifting, but still needed some assistance from teammates. As each inning passed, it looked like itwas never going to come. And then it happened. An assist came in the form of right fielder Giancarlo Stanton chipping in at an opportune time.
With Fernandez handling things on the mound, Stanton’s solo homer in the sixth was just the boost needed in a 1-0 victory against the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night at Marlins Park.
“I know he feels great,” manager Don Mattingly said of Fernandez. “What he looked like, thatwas easy.”
The Marlins have now won three straight to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. Itwas also the fourth consecutive defeat for the National League East-leading Nationals.
“We’re hanging in there,” Mattingly said. “We’re living day-to-day, game-to-game. You win, you feel good about it. You lose, it hurts you.”
The Marlins can thank their two marquee players for remaining in the race for one of the two wild card spots. Fernandez turned in yet another nearly flawless performance, allowing three hits and striking out 12 in eight innings.
It looked like the effort was potentially going to go to waste when the Marlins were unable to have any success at the plate. They had just two hits off Nationals pitcher
“I know he feels great. What he looked like, that was easy.” Don Mattingly, Marlins manager on Jose Fernandez
Tanner Roark, treating the announced crowd of 17,961 to a pitcher’s duel.
That was until Stanton took the batter’s box in the sixth. With two outs, he crushed the second pitch over the right-field fence. It was his second consecutive game with a homerun and a good sign he’s reaching close to full strength after suffering a groin injury last month.
“That was just a good swing, … a good contact ball,” Stanton said. “It wasn’t like a hard drive or anything.”
Things got a little shaky in the eighth. A single by catcher Wilson Ramos gave the Nationals runners at first and third with one out. Fernandez responded by striking out Danny Espinosa and getting Daniel Murphy to ground to second to end the inning.
“The process of just learning how to pitch and try to make a pitch ... ,” Fernandez said. “I just tried to keep the ball downand get a ground ball.”
Closer David Phelps pitched the final inning to pick up the save, his fourth of the season. After recording the first out, he avoided being clipped by a line drive to retire the next two batters.
The victory allowed Fernandez (16-8) to continue his dominance against the Nationals this season. He haswon all four starts in the series. More importantly, the Marlins are playing meaningful games this late in the season, when in recent years they have looking forward to next season around this time.
“Players are playing hard,” Mattingly said. “That’s what we’ve asked. No matter what the circumstances, go out and be ready to play.
“At the end of the year, you really want to be able to look yourself in the mirror and say I’ve played as hard as I could.”