Caleb Smith continues to shine in 3-2 win over the Nationals

The Fish won a quality game last night. They were fairly even all night with the Washington Nationals. The Fish had been on a four game losing streak. Caleb Smith was fantastic in his start and got just enough offense. The offense made sure to capitalize on the Nats mistakes.

Caleb Smith: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K

Aníbal Sánchez: 5.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 6 K

Typically, ex-Marlins tend to have good numbers against their former team. Sánchez came into last night pitching well against the Fish. Smith made sure he would out pitch Sánchez in all categories. Smith was able to amass an impressive 8 strikeouts against a pretty solid Nats lineup. His use of pitch location helped create a lot of swing and misses.

Smith has had issues with the first inning before, and last night looked like it would be no different. He started the game off by giving up a single to Adam Eaton. A wild pitch later, and Juan Soto would bring Eaton home from second on a single. Smith to his credit, shook it off and moved on. He would clamp down after the first, and not give up another run. Smith looked tremendous, he even struck out the side during the fifth inning.

Nick Anderson would be called in to relieve Smith. He gave up his first run of the season the night before, and tonight would be no different. Brian Dozier took a first pitch fast ball out of the park in a hurry. The bad start to the inning turned out only to be a bump in the road for Anderson. He proceeded to strike out the next two batters, closing out his night with three strikeouts and a run, in his one inning of work. Sergio Romo got the save, making little work of the Nats in the ninth.

Most of the Fish's offense came from the back end of the lineup. The Fish did not wait long to answer the Nats back. Starlin Castro and Miguel Rojas had back to back singles to get things rolling. Isaac Galloway came up next, and he reached base after a catching error from Ryan Zimmerman. Castro made it home during this exchange, tying the game at one.

The Fish would add two more runs in the sixth inning. While the Nats kept it close, this was the inning that hurt the most. The Fish were aggressive this inning and did not wait to swing at something. The Nats pitching struggled and the Fish were all over it. Again the back end of the lineup delivered when needed. This was a good game to snap their losing streak.

Nationals vs. Marlins box score (MLB.com)

Fish Picks answer key

1. Yes
2. Over
3. Under
4. No
5. Marlins