The Nationals Marlins series this season have had one regular feature: The Nats win most every time.Too bad they can’t play Miami every night.
By Evan Redmon, July 27, 2018
Scherzer and Strasburg squabble after #37 gets the hook in Nationals 8-5 loss to the Braves
As I type this, the Nationals Marlins game is in the top of the 5th inning. Your Washington Nationals are ahead 4-0.
If the Nats should hold on and win, they will be 7-1 against the Marlins this season.
When there’s a Nationals Marlins game, the Nats batting average is .298, a full fifty-three points over their team batting average of .245.
However, their team ERA is 4.65, which is actually above their season mark of 3.91. This is mostly due to two games:
The game at home on July 5th, the day after the team held a players-only meeting. The Marlins jumped out to a 9-0 lead, making it seem like that meeting was a really bad idea. The the Nats reeled off 14 runs in a 4-inning span led by Trea Turner’s 8 RBIs, including 2 home runs, one of which was his first career grand slam. It was a weird, fun game.
The only loss against the Marlins the Nationals have suffered occurred a few days later on July 8th, a 10-2 thumping, mostly the result of a really bad outing by Tanner Roark.
So let’s take those two games away, which I know you shouldn’t do, because baseball is a game were the averages always win. But I’m going to do it anyway, and when I do, the Nats ERA falls to just 2.6.
So, the Nationals own the Marlins this season, like they have most any other season.
Unfortunately, there are other teams.
Trea Turner is all smiles after his 8-RBI night in a Nationals Marlins game earlier this season
Trea Turner blasts his first ever career grand slam against the Marlins in a 14-12 win
Conclusion: We Need More Nationals Marlins Games
It’s now the bottom of the 6th in tonight’s Nationals Marlins game. Nats still have a 4-0 lead. I’m liking their chances.
Makes me wish the Nats could play the Marlins every night.
Juan Soto hits his 12th home run last night. Of course it was against the Marlins.
The problem is, of course, that baseball would get very boring if one team played one other team 162 straight times. Furthermore, I’m pretty sure that’s against the rules or something.
The other problem is that the Miami Marlins are a bad baseball team.
Trade or Die
As the trade deadline approaches, the only reason the Marlins are in the news is because their catcher, JT Realmuto, is a hot commodity. He would be a fine addition to the Nationals, if GM Mike Rizzo could pull some sort of a rabbit out of his hat and land him without giving up the farm.
Read⇒ Rizzo to the Rescue: How the GM Could Save the Season
So the Nationals should beat the Marlins almost every time, if they are the playoff mainstay and World Series contender they aim to be.
The last problem is that the Nationals have a very bad record against good competition this season, getting pummeled by the Red Sox, Yankees, and even the Blue Jays. They are 5-6 against the division-leading Braves and 1-5 against the LA Dodgers.
It would appear that this is just who the Nats are right now. They can beat up on bad teams. They are that bad team when the going gets tough.
. . .
Top of the 7th … still 4-0. Maybe Nationals Marlins every night wouldn’t be so boring after all.