*Photo from AP News*
There's plenty of competition in the NL East. CJ Abrams homered, Jesse Winker drove in a pair of runs, and the Washington Nationals defeated the Miami Marlins with a 7-2 victory Monday night in Miami.
The Nationals bumped up their record to an even 14-14, securing a 4 game sweep of the division rival Marlins, the only team below them in the standings. They handed the last place Marlins their 7th straight loss as they dropped to a NL worst 6-24. They previously lost 9 straight to open the season.
Abrams got the scoring started in the 3rd inning, hitting a two run home run to right field to make it 2-0 Nationals. Jacob Young scored on a bases loaded walk in the 5th inning to make it 3-0 Nationals. In the 6th inning, Jazz Chisholm Jr blasted a two run home run to center field, getting the Marlins on the board and making it a 3-2 game.
Winker drove in his second run of the day in the 7th when a force out scored Young from 3rd to make it a 4-2 game. Abrams then scored on a wild pitch to increase the Washington lead to 5-2. Joey Meneses hit an RBI double to center field to score Winker and make it 6-2. Meneses then scored on an RBI single by Ildemaro Vargas to make it a 7-2 game.
Nationals starter Jake Irvin said of the offense's performance that "It's awesome, it's an identity for us, and that's really cool. I think we do some really, really fun things, I think offensively, defensively, just kind of changing the game, making guys on the other side of the ball, the field, question what we're going to do at all times. It's really special and I love what those guys are doing."
It was Irvin who toed the rubber for the Nationals, getting the win after allowing two runs on 4 hits in 6 innings pitched, striking out 3 hitters. Dylan Floro pitched two scoreless innings in relief before Matt Barnes worked a scoreless 9th to seal the win.
Trevor Rogers allowed 3 runs in 5 innings pitched in his start for the Marlins. Anthony Maldonado pitched a scoreless inning before Calvin Faucher allowed 3 runs in the 7th and Andrew Nardi allowed one. Emmanuel Ramirez pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings and Tanner Scott had a clean inning of his own.
The Nationals continue their road trip as they start a series against the Texas Rangers on Tuesday, with MacKenzie Gore starting. The Marlins welcome the Colorado Rockies to town on Tuesday with Sixto Sanchez getting the series opening start.
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