Nationals at Marlins
The Washington Nationals overcame a rare sub-par effort by their ace in the opener of a 10-game road trip, continuing their stellar play away from home and extending their domination of the Miami Marlins. Winners of eight of their last nine on the road, the Nationals go for their 10th straight win over Miami when the three-game series resumes Saturday.
Michael A. Taylor and Matt Adams each belted two-run homers, whiel Bryce Harper added a two-run double as Washington posted a 9-5 victory after blowing a pair of early two-run leads. Sean Doolittle retired the final five batters for his 10th save, pushing his strikeout total to 35 over 22 1/3 innings. It was a costly defeat for the Marlins, who lost third baseman Martin Prado to a hamstring injury while running out a ground ball. Prado, who had a pair of doubles among three hits before he was hurt, is expected to go on the disabled list, according to Miami manager Don Mattingly.
TV: 4:10 p.m. ET, MASN2 (Washington), FS Florida (Miami)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Nationals RH Tanner Roark (2-4, 3.39 ERA) vs. Marlins LH Wei-Yin Chen (1-2, 6.55)
Roark has recorded four straight quality starts but has lost two of his last three outings after giving up three runs and six hits over seven innings versus the Los Angeles Dodgers last weekend. He has allowed three runs or fewer in seven of his nine starts and has pitched at least six innings in all but one outing. J.T. Realmuto is 8-for-23 against Roark, who owns a 5-8 record and 4.19 ERA versus the Marlins.
Chen matched his longest outing of the season at Atlanta on Sunday, giving up two runs and five hits over 5 1/3 innings, but he did not factor in the decision to extend his winless drought to four starts. He worked 4 1/3 scoreless innings versus the Dodgers in his previous start after allowing six homers in his first three turns. Chen is 1-5 with a 4.69 ERA in eight appearances (seven starts) against the Nationals.
WALK-OFFS
1. Taylor is 5-for-16 with a homer, triple, two doubles and four RBIs in his last four games.
2. Marlins LF Derek Dietrich clubbed a two-run homer Friday to extend his hitting streak to five games.
3. Nationals 2B Daniel Murphy and OF Brian Goodwin will begin rehab assignments at Double-A Harrisburg on Saturday.