Attendance: 19.766
Hero of the Game: Derek Dietrich (0.151 WPA)
Goat of the Game: Steve Cishek (-0.357 WPA)
Play of the Game: Denard Span doubled in the tenth inning. Ian Desmond scored (-0.404 WPA)
The Miami Marlins were able to hang on tight against the Washington Nationals in a game in which both teams blew major opportunities against the opposing starting pitcher. On the Marlins' side, the Fish had multiple runners on base in a few instances, leading only to squandered chances. In the third inning, the Fish got Marcell Ozuna to third base with only one out on an Adeiny Hechavarria single, and it could have been even better had the original call on a Derek Dietrich foul line drive been upheld as a double. Nevertheless, Greg Dobbs grounded into a double play to end the inning.
In another crucial instance, the Marlins got Jeff Mathis and Placido Polanco on board with a single and hit by pitch with two outs. Giancarlo Stanton ripped a single into left field and third base coach Joe Espada held Mathis at third base. However, Polanco did not note the sign and ran past second base, leading to an inning-ending rundown play.
Those plays were only neutralized by the fact that the Nationals had similar innings. In the very next inning, the Nats got four hits against Marlins starter Henderson Alvarez, but somehow scored no runs. Jayson Werth blooped a single just beyond Stanton's reach, but Stanton in turn gunned down Werth trying to stretch the hit into a double. At the end of the inning, opposing starting pitcher Taylor Jordan blooped a single to Stanton with runners on first and second, but Stanton then threw out the runner at home again, yielding his second assist of the inning.
The Marlins' lone break was in the bottom of that inning, when Derek Dietrich launched his ninth home run of the season into the right field home run porch. That would give the Fish a 2-1 lead.
Miami held the lead until the seventh, when a two-out walk by Alvarez led to an Anthony Rendon double that brought Bryce Harper home and ended Alvarez's outing. He finished the game with three strikeouts, two walks, and nine hits allowed in 6 2/3 innings.
The Fish then went into extras, but this time they were unable to come up with the heroics. It was the Nationals with three straight hits off of Steve Cishek and Dan Jennings who rallied to take the 5-2 win and deny the Marlins their first four-game winning streak of the year.