Thursday was not a good night for the Nationals, who did so many things wrong over the course of a 6-3 loss to the Marlins, even though the game should have been a win given the way the game started and the way Mitchell Parker pitched.
But it’s a new day, so they’ll look to come back and win the second game of the four-game series tonight with another left-handed rookie on the mound who has had success against this opponent before.
On June 15, DJ Herz made just his third career start. It was against the Marlins, here in DC. And he threw six scoreless innings, striking out 13 of the 19 batters he faced that afternoon. It was a brilliant performance that suddenly showed the world how good Herz can be when he’s focused. He was similarly focused against the Pirates last weekend, throwing five hitless innings on 87 pitches before being taken out of the game. You never really know for sure what to expect from him on any given night, but if the stars ever aligned for a dominant performance…
The Nationals need a better offensive performance tonight against Edward Cabrera than they did Thursday against Darren McCaughan, who allowed three quick runs in the first inning and nothing after that. It’s been a while since the Nats last saw Cabrera, on April 27 to be exact. That afternoon, they held the right-hander to six runs in just 4 1/3 innings, although it’s worth noting that the big hits in that game came from Jesse Winker, Nick Senzel and Trey Lipscomb, none of whom will be here today.
Update: CJ Abrams was removed from the lineup after injuring his left shoulder on a dive at shortstop on Thursday night. Everyone moves up one spot in the lineup, with Nasim Nuñez now batting ninth and starting at shortstop.
WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. MIAMI MARLINS
Where: National Park
Playing time: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 79 degrees, wind 8 mph from right field
NATIONAL
SS CJ Abrams
by Dylan Crews
LF James Wood
DH Andrés Chaparro
3B Jose Tena
2B Luis Garcia Jr.
1B Joey Gallo
C Drew Millas
CF Jacob Young
SS Nasim Nunez
LHP DJ Herz
MARLINS
SS Xavier Edwards
3B Connor Norby
1B Jake Burger
DH Jonah Braut
2B Otto Lopez
RF gripping cone
CF Cristian Pache
C Nick Fortes
LF Javier Sanoja
RHP Edward Cabrera
