Nationals host struggling Marlins, seek a momentum boost
The Washington Nationals hope to ride the momentum of a walk-off victory into the opener of a three-game series against the Miami Marlins on Monday.
The Nationals have every reason to celebrate after Alcides Escobar's RBI single in the ninth inning gave them an 8-7 victory in their series finale against the San Diego Padres. Washington had surrendered 34 runs in its previous two contests and dropped six in a row overall.
The win on Sunday came one day after an emotionally draining experience in which a shooting from outside Nationals Park put the game of baseball in its proper perspective.
"Especially to be able to give the fans that great win today after having that unfortunate incident yesterday, where most of us felt a little bit of a moment of fear of what happened," Escobar said via translator Octavio Martinez in a postgame Zoom session. "Luckily everything worked out and we were able to win today's game."
Juan Soto followed up his Home Run Derby appearance last week with a pair of blasts on Friday in his first game back from the All-Star break. He added a two-run homer in the eighth inning on Sunday.
"We all kind of joked, we thought the Home Run Derby was going to get him going. Hopefully that's right," ace pitcher Max Scherzer said of Soto. "If we get him hot, that just changes everything. When he's hot, he can absolutely carry us."
Josh Harrison collected three hits for the second straight game for the Nationals. He is 12-for-25 with a pair of doubles, two RBIs and three runs scored against Miami this season.
Left-hander Jon Lester (2-4, 5.54 ERA) is expected to take the mound on Monday. The 37-year-old will look for a better performance than his last one on July 10, when he allowed eight runs (three earned) on nine hits in 2 2/3 innings of a 10-4 loss against the San Francisco Giants.
Lester also was taken to task by the Marlins on June 25, permitting seven runs on five hits in 2 1/3 innings of an 11-2 setback. He owns a 1-3 record with a 4.93 ERA in nine career starts against Miami.
The Marlins enter the series opener having lost six of their past eight games overall to fall a season-worst 13 games below .500.
Miami dropped a 4-2 decision to Philadelphia in the completion of a suspended game on Sunday afternoon before falling 7-4 in the regularly scheduled contest.
Adding injury to insult were the departures of rookie second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. and first baseman Garrett Cooper in the latter game. Chisholm suffered a left shoulder contusion on a diving attempt at Bryce Harper's single to shallow right field, while Cooper injured his elbow in a collision with Travis Jankowski.
"Those are two staples in the lineup. You don't ever want to see anybody to go down and to have those two ... in that game -- it was obviously tough as a team," teammate Adam Duvall said.
Per the Marlins, Chisholm and Cooper will undergo additional testing once the team gets to Washington.
Miami manager Don Mattingly said former Nationals left-hander Ross Detwiler (1-0, 4.19) likely will get the starting nod in what will be a bullpen game on Monday. It will serve as the 100th start of Detwiler's career.
Detwiler, 35, has an 11.25 ERA without a decision in five career relief appearances against Washington.
--Field Level Media
