Nationals 18; Marlins 4: Career night for Mark Reynolds turns close contest into laugher

The first two games in a four-game series between the Marlins and Nationals were drama-filled, the first was a 14-12 barnburner, the other was a walk-off win on Friday. Tonight’s game was just an old-fashioned blowout. Behind a historic performance from Mark Reynolds, the Nats blasted the Marlins 18-4, which won them the series.

• Wei-Yin Chen: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (84 pitches)
• Max Scherzer: 7.0 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (109 pitches)

The Nationals continued their recent dominance over the Marlins, as they’ve now won 14 straight games against the Fish. Only a night after hitting a walk-off homer, Reynolds went 5-5 with a staggering 10 RBI. He is only the 15th player in the history of the MLB to have 10 or more RBI in a single game.

FOX Sports was raving about Reynolds’ production even while it was still in progress:

His two-run home run gave the Nationals a 2-0 lead in the 2nd inning, but the Marlins would respond. Starlin Castro and J.T. Realmuto hit back-to-back homers to knot the game at 2 apiece. The game was tied 3-3 in the fifth inning, but Washington would completely open the floodgates from there. Wei-Yin Chen would surrender seven runs (all earned) and first man out of the bullpen Elieser Hernandez didn’t fare any better.

Chen entered Saturday with awful results on the road all season, yet his ERA somehow rose to 10.47 in those situations. It’s about time for the club to consider whether it makes sense to keep the veteran lefty as a regular in the starting rotation in light of such inconsistencies.

Even though the Marlins got hammered tonight, there was a bright spot in the seventh, as Yadiel Rivera hit his first career home run.

The Marlins (36-55) have now lost three in a row to their divisional rival, who are now two games above .500. Looking to salvage something from the series before heading back home, Trevor Richards pitches on Sunday. Tanner Roark will be on the bump for Washington. First pitch at 1:35pm.

Courtesy of FanGraphs

Attendance: 34,364

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Matchup Summary

Every game between these teams in 2018 has been relatively close, but the Marlins keep finding creative ways to lose. The main issue Friday night was runners left on base against a struggling Gio González. Scoring opportunities didn’t present themselves against the deep Nationals bullpen and Mark Reynolds’ walk-off home run eventual broke the 2-2 tie.

I’ll go out on a limb and predict that Don Mattingly will never use this exact lineup again. Productive rookie Brian Anderson takes a seat after starting 90 games consecutively. Yadiel Rivera, entering Saturday will only three major league innings as an outfielder, will roam around center?! Meanwhile, encouraging to see JT Riddle return after a couple days’ rest (left hip stiffness).

Martín Prado’s workload is being managed carefully having recently been activated from the disabled list, but the timing of this day off is curious. Look at his impressive history against Max Scherzer:

Accustomed to being doubted all season, the Marlins are especially big underdogs for this game, according to bookmakers. First pitch approximately 7:15pm.

Thread Question: Would you rather see the team recall an outfield prospect (like Austin Dean or Magneuris Sierra) to take Yadiel Rivera’s roster spot? Rivera is kind of an awkward fit at the moment.