Ryan Zimmerman swing
courtesy of BrianMKA
Tuesday night’s game at Nationals Park was far from being a marquee match-up. The fifth place Miami Marlins came to town to face the second place Nats and played in front of the smallest crowd of 2013 since April 10.
24,616 in paid attendance occupied the ballpark while the Nats secured a 2-1 victory over the Marlins, nudging themselves back over .500 by a game. Right-handed starter Ross Ohlendorf pitched five innings plus one batter, struck out three, intentionally walked one, and gave up three hits and a run (on a homerun) on 78 pitches (50 strikes).
Ohlendorf tallied his third win of the season but despite the strong start and win, Manager Davey Johnson is concerned that the rookie is running out of steam too early on and will likely move back to using rookie Tanner Roark in that starting pitcher slot. The move would bring Roark back into the rotation from the bullpen and put Ohlendorf back in a relief situation, which may end up being a better use of his skill set.
Washington scored their first and only two runs in the top of the first innings off Miami’s right-handed starter Nathan Eovaldi. Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman singled with one out followed by outfielder Bryce Harper who did the same, moving Zimmerman to third. Zimmerman would then score off a ground out hit by Jayson Werth before shortstop Ian Desmond recorded an RBI as well, bringing in Harper to score.
It’s clear that Ohlendorf – before losing steam – had an easier night than Eovaldi. Ohlendorf faced the minimum over the first three innings played before giving up two hits out of his three total in the fourth inning. The only blemish on his evening was the solo leadoff homerun hit by Miami outfielder Christian Yelich in the sixth inning. After that, Ohlendorf was pulled and replaced by Roark who pitched a scoreless inning, walked two, and struck out two.
The Washington bullpen held Miami and featured scoreless appearances from righties Drew Storen in the seventh, Tyler Clippard in the eighth, and Rafael Soriano in the ninth. Between the three of them, they ended up striking out four and facing ten batters total. The 2-1 win was Soriano’s thirty-fourth save of the year.
Rachel moved to DC in the fall of 2005 to study Journalism and Music at American University. When she’s not keeping up with the latest Major League Baseball news, she works on making music as an accomplished singer-songwriter and was even a featured performer/speaker at TEDxDupont Circle in 2012. Rachel has also contributed to The Washington Examiner and MASN Sports’ Nationals Buzz as a guest blogger. See why she loves DC. E-Mail: rachel@welovedc.com.
