MLB Scores: Miami Marlins 7, Washington Nationals 1

The Miami Marlins sent Kendry Flores, the rookie starter from Triple-A New Orleans, out for a spot start for the Fish as the emergency 26th man on the roster in a doubleheader against the Washington Nationals. However, it turned out that Flores played only a small role in what turned out to be a beatdown by the Fish and an eventual 7-1 victory over the Nationals. This time around, it was the offense that delivered for Miami.

The Fish took off right away, with the top of the lineup getting aboard early and often. Derek Dietrich and Martin Prado reached base in the first inning to no avail. However, Marcell Ozuna tripled in the second off of Tanner Roark and eventually scored on a Miguel Rojas single. Then Dietrich came along and added to that with a double to make it 2-0 early on. One inning later, the Fish put on even more when Justin Bour sent a shot to straightaway center field to make it 3-0 on his sixth home run of the year.

Washington scored one back, but it was not on starter Kendry Flores. He had an ugly outing with three walks and a hit in the game but withstood the damage and provided no runs. However, in the third inning, his fastball velocity suddenly dipped three to four mph against the last two batters, and in the bottom of the frame, manager Don Mattingly sent in a pinch hitter for him. The diagnosis turned out to be a "right shoulder strain," and he was officially called day-to-day, but Miami was still down a starting pitcher.

Jose Urena, fresh off an inning of work earlier in the day in the first game, was tasked to work three more innings tonight. He walked a man and gave up a run on two hits with no strikeouts, so he did no favors for himself either. However, he did go three innings and saved the pen further problems for tomorrow afternoon.

Miami did not need much help from the pitching and defense, because they continued to score runs in the fifth inning. The top of the order got on board again, as Dietrich, Prado, and Christian Yelich loaded the bases with no one out. Giancarlo Stanton, mired in a cold streak, and Bour recorded outs, but Marcell Ozuna stayed hot and delivered with a base hit to score two runs. Two more came home with J.T. Realmuto's base knock, and the team ended up leading 7-1.

For Ozuna, his two-hit performance lengthened his hit streak out to 14 games.

The Fish and Nationals will close out this series tomorrow afternoon at 1:35 PM EST, with Jose Fernandez coming out to face Joe Ross in another #JoseDay for Marlins fans.

Source: FanGraphs

Attendance: 30,019
Hero of the Game: Marcell Ozuna (+0.222 WPA)
Goat of the Game: Giancarlo Stanton (-0.086 WPA)
Play of the Game: Marcell Ozuna singles with two out in the fifth inning. Derek Dietrich and Martin Prado score. Christian Yelich advances to third base. Marcell Ozuna advances to second base. (+0.130 WPA)