Marlins Blow Nine-Run Lead, Lose to Nationals, 14-12

Yesterday might’ve been the Fourth of July, but the Marlins and Nationals saved the fireworks for tonight, ultimately resulting in a 14-12 loss for the Fish.

With Martin Prado coming fresh off the disabled list, the Marlins’ offense got out to one of the best starts all season. With runners at the corners and two out in the first inning, Anthony Rendon dropped a line drive off Prado’s bat to allow Derek Dietrich to score from third.

The Marlins followed up with more runs in the second. J.T. Realmuto and Justin Bour each hit a pair of singles to drive home three runs. Prado put an exclamation point on his return, and blasted a three-run home run to put the Marlins up, 7-0. All six runs scored in the second inning came with two outs.

The Fish got on the board again in the fourth via the long ball, with a two-run home run to the opposite field by Bour. The 9-0 lead was the Marlins’ largest lead since April 17 vs. the New York Yankees.

Pablo Lopez, making his second career start, looked initially like the Pablo Lopez from last Saturday where he allowed two runs and got his first Major League win. He faced the minimum through the first three innings. His only speed bump through four innings was a leadoff home run given up to Trea Turner in the fourth.

They gave up a run, but what could go wrong from here?

Lopez started the bottom of the fifth allowing the first three baserunners to reach, loading the bases. After striking out Pedro Severino, Lopez walked Adam Eaton to bring home a run. After Turner grounded into a fielder’s choice to score a run, Juan Soto hit a two-run double to bring the Nationals within four.

After the fifth, Lopez was pulled for a surging Adam Conley, who had given up only one run in his last 12 appearances coming into tonight. However, he struggled as well. Once again, the Nationals started the inning with a rally. Daniel Murphy got it started with a sacrifice fly to score Bryce Harper. With the bases loaded, Turner hit a grand-slam to put the Nationals ahead, 10-9. Within an hour, the Marlins blew a nine-run lead—tied for their largest blown lead in franchise history.

The Marlins never do seem to go away though. After the Nationals tacked on four more runs, Brian Anderson hit a three-run home run in the eighth to bring the score to 14-12 (insert football score joke here). The Marlins also managed to bring the go-ahead run to the plate with two out in the ninth, but ultimately only amounted to a Dietrich strikeout.

Fangraphs

Kingfish: Trea Turner (.541 WPA)

Flounder: Adam Conley (-.611 WPA)

Moment of the Game: Trea Turner’s grand-slam to put the Nationals ahead, 10-9

Please leave any Icthy picks in the comments below. Remember, we introduced a new grand prize for the contest this season!

For just the first time this season, the Marlins are heading to Washington to face the Nationals. Despite already being more than halfway into the season, the Marlins and Nationals have only squared off once, resulting in the Fish getting swept in three games.

On the mound for the Marlins will be Pablo López. This will be his first-ever road start coming off a successful MLB debut last weekend.

Jeremy Hellickson is starting for the Nats. He has a solid 2.63 ERA in 10 starts. However, in his last start, he gave up 3 runs in 4 ¹⁄₃ innings. It was his first start coming off the DL after suffering an injury in early June.

Even in a rebuilding season, there’s plenty at stake!