Spring Training 2013 Recap: Miami Marlins 5, Washington Nationals 1

The Miami Marlins had themselves their most complete game of the spring training season, as they put up a dominant offensive and pitching effort against the Washington Nationals. Nathan Eovaldi had a nice two-inning stint as the team's starter, and the Marlins gathered eight hits and put up five runs thanks to a three-run eighth inning.

Eovaldi Impressive

The Marlins had to be happy with the first outing for Nathan Eovaldi, who may be a key focal point of the 2013 season. Eovaldi struck out three batters in his two innings of work and did not give up a hit en route to a shutout outing, Eovaldi walked Denard Span in the first inning, and that represented the only player who reached base against him for the Washington Nationals. Given his lack of strikeouts being an issue in the past, you have to believe that this early development is a good thing for Eovaldi, though you also cannot take too much of this too seriously. Let us see if he can continue on this run.

The rest of the Marlins pitching staff also did fairly well in this game, as the team held the Nationals to one run on just three hits. The other star of the program in yesterday's game was A.J. Ramos, who struck out four batters in a two-inning outing of his own. Overall, the Marlins racked up 10 strikeouts and just four walks, putting up an impressive, complete game.

Yelich, Solano Gets Party Started

Christian Yelich may not be major league ready just yet, but his performance so far has been very strong for the Marlins. Yelich led off the game with a triple and went one-for-three in yesterday's affair, scoring the run on a Donovan Solano sacrifice fly. Solano picked up two singles as well, looking to get his spring training started on the right note.

The Marlins picked up three more runs in the eighth thanks to hits by prospect Derek Dietrich and Ed Lucas. Dietrich provided the team's only other extra-base knock, an RBI double

Next: Thursday, February 28, @ St. Louis Cardinals