Miami Marlins vs. Washington Nationals: Henderson Alvarez leaves game early with "right elbow stiffness"

The Miami Marlins were cruising with a 4-0 lead and with starter Henderson Alvarez putting up a solid start. But after a relatively benign fifth inning with no sign of discomfort or injury, the Marlins began warming up reliever Chris Hatcher in the top half of the sixth inning. Half an inning later, Hatcher had taken over for Alvarez, who had only thrown 62 pitches up to that point. Alvarez left with two strikeouts, no walks, and five hits allowed along with no runs.

Hatcher later loaded the bases and allowed two runs before giving way to lefty Dan Jennings, who himself got into a bases loaded situation. Miami gave up a third run on an error by first baseman Garrett Jones on a would-be inning-ending grounder.

Meanwhile, Marlins fans hesitantly awaited word on Alvarez's condition, and it was finally announced by play-by-play man Rich Waltz on the TV broadcast that Alvarez was taken out of the game for precautionary reasons due to "right forearm stiffness."

Obviously, Marlins fans cannot be happy about this given that the team has already lost Jose Fernandez to a season-ending UCL tear and subsequent Tommy John surgery. Here are Fish Stripes, we will keep an eye n the situation as it progresses.