WSH 3, MIA 5: Eury, X, and the Fish Just Keep On Swimming

The Marlins broke out the brooms with major contributions from their two youngest active players.

Looking to secure their second series sweep of the season and ensure a happy—albeit LONG—flight out to the Bay Area, the Marlins looked to their number one prospect, Eury Pérez, for some matinee baseball. He provided the filth, and the hitters did the rest.

Eury wasted no time as he worked a 10-pitch, 1-2-3 first inning, capped off with a strikeout of the scorching hot Jeimer Candelario. He worked around a walk and a single in the second with two strikeouts and a fielders choice, but his pitch count climbed to 36.

The Marlins provided some early run support in the bottom half of the second as Bryan De La Cruz crushed an up-and-away fastball up, up, and away over the wall in dead center for his fourth home run of the year. 102.4 MPH, 24 DEG, 402 FT. He extends his career-long hitting streak to twelve games, which ties Luis Arraez for the longest by a Marlin this season.

Eury tallied two more strikeouts in a 15-pitch third inning before getting even more run support as Jean Segura drove home Xavier Edwards from second after X snuck a ball over the third base bag for a one-out double.

He paid for a mistake in the top of the fourth as now-certified Marlin-killer Jeimer Candelario sent a middle-away fastball into the seats beyond the right-center field wall for a solo home run to make it 2-1. Dominic Smith then hit a two-out double but would go no further as Eury induced a groundout from Jake Alu to end the threat. Seeing his fellow rookie in a bind, Edwards hit a two-out RBI single to right field in the bottom of the fourth to give Eury back his two-run cushion.

Eury capped off a seven-pitch fifth inning with a strikeout of Luis Garcia, and having thrown 78 pitches, his day came to a close. An outstanding performance from the young phenom, building upon his solid debut last week.

Eury’s final line: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 HR, 78/48 Pitches/Strikes.

Matt Barnes and Steven Okert combined for two scoreless innings following Eury, with some help from some slick infield defense. A diving play by Garrett Cooper was the highlight of the bunch. Garrett Cooper then added an extra insurance run in the seventh with a two-out single that drove in Nick Fortes.

Huascar Brazoban then ran into some trouble in the eighth, allowing two runs to score on three straight hits, bringing the Nationals back within one. He induced a double play to end the threat.

With a one-run lead heading into the bottom of the eighth, it felt like the Marlins had the Nats right where they wanted ‘em. But do you know what is better than a one-run lead in the ninth? That’s right: a two-run lead in the ninth! The sequence went as follows: Bryan De La Cruz reached on a throwing error by third baseman Jeimer Candelario with one out; he went to second on a single by Peyton Burdick; and Nick Fortes followed with an RBI single to drive home DLC. There’s your two-run lead.

The lights went out as “For Whom The Bell Tolls” played over the speakers, announcing the entrance of Dylan “The Floser” Floro. He worked around a leadoff walk to seal the deal on the 5-3 victory for the Marlins. His fourth save of the season went along with Eury Perez’s first win in the big leagues. And it all happened in just two hours and sixteen minutes.

Noah’s Notes and What’s Next

• BREAK OUT THE BROOMS! A happy flight out to the west coast secured.
• Fourth win in a row for the Marlins.
• All the players were wearing Florida Panthers-related gear before and after the game.

• Nick Fortes had four balls put in play. Their exit velocities: 102.5, 91.1, 107.0, and 101.3.
• The Marlins are now two games over .500 despite having a run differential of -52.
• Skip Schumaker about the above stat, “I like to focus on the win/loss column.”
• Luis Arraez was hitless for the first time in what felt like an eternity. He has only been held hitless in seven games this season.
• Six of the nine starting hitters recorded at least one hit today.
• It’s Sandy Alcantara on the mound against Anthony DeSclafani tomorrow at 10:15 PM EDT, the latest scheduled start time of the 2023 Marlins regular season.
• This supersized road trip includes three in SF, four in Colorado, and three in Anaheim. No days off until it’s all over. Buckle up!
• They’ll definitely be watching the Panthers game on their flight to San Francisco.
• ‘Til Tmrw!