Mitchell Parker has been a much better piece for this Nationals pitching staff since being moved to the bullpen, and today was one of the days that remind us why that move was made. The Nats gave him the ball in a one-run game, and over the course of a one-inning outing, five runs would cross the plate, giving Miami a huge win to even the series. The offense is just as guilty in this one, for a second straight night, the Nats got off to a hot start at the plate, only to go completely silent until the ninth inning. The Nationals finally woke back up in the top of ninth to make it extremely interesting, but ultimately did themselves in on one of numerous mistakes that were made today. A recipe that isn’t going to win you many games, especially given how Blake Butera and company have to manage games in order to win.

The Action

This one got underway with a BOOM, as James Wood wasted no time injecting some life into the first base dugout. Wood worked a seven-pitch at-bat to begin the game, and on pitch number seven he blasted a slider 442-feet to right field, putting Washington ahead instantly 1-0. The damage would continue in the inning, as Luis Garcia followed the homer with a single, Brady House followed with a double, and CJ Abrams drove them both in with a two-run single. If you were late getting in the doors to this game, you may have been in store for one heck of a surprise, as the Nationals had a 3-0 lead just four batters in to the game.

Richard Lovelady was given the start for Washington this afternoon, paving the way for Zack Littell, the bulk man. Lovelady has served all kinds of roles for this team so far this season, and once again, he was fantastic today. He got some help from his defense to end the bottom of the first inning scoreless. Kyle Stowers hit a two-out double off of Lovelady, but James Wood and Nasim Nunez completed a successful relay to get the ball to Keibert Ruiz in time to tag Liam Hicks out at the plate to end the inning.

Lovelady would roll through the Miami order in the second inning, striking out back-to-back hitters to end the inning and give the Nationals an excellent two-inning start in his opener role this afternoon. Today’s outing extended his scoreless innings streak now to 8.2 innings, with ten strikeouts coming in that span.

The Nats’ offense added another run to the lead in the top of the third, as CJ Abrams struck again, this time hitting a one-out triple to set up Jacob Young for a sacrifice fly to make it 4-0 Washington.

Zack Littell took over in the bottom of the third, inheriting a four-run lead with a golden opportunity to earn a win. The outing started strong, as Littell retired the side in order in the third, aided by an inning-ending double play.

The bottom of the fourth was where Littell ran into a bump in the road. Kyle Stowers, an all-star last year, has struggled to start out the season, entering today still looking for his first extra base hit of the season. He found it in the fourth, getting a splitter from Littell and launching it over the right field wall for a two-run shot, cutting the Nats’ lead in half to 4-2.

Littell worked around some base runners in the fifth inning, including one resulting from an error on him, but came out of the inning with no damage. That would prove important one inning later, as Littell got himself in another jam in the sixth, this time allowing one more run on a sacrifice fly by Owen Caissie, but managed to end the frame with Washington still ahead 4-3.

While Littell was weaving in and out of trouble during the middle part of this game, it felt like the Nats’ offense let Janson Junk off the hook a little bit. A combination of Junk figuring his stuff out and some base running mistakes on Washington’s part helped him make it through six innings of four-run ball, a good result for Miami considering how it began.

• Zack Littell: 4 innings, 5 hits, 3 runs (2 earned), 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, 69 pitches
• Janson Junk: 6 innings, 7 hits, 4 runs (4 earned), 2 walks, 6 strikeouts, 94 pitches

Both bullpens took over the 4-3 ballgame in the seventh, with Lake Bachar working a scoreless top of the seventh for the Marlins. Mitchell Parker came in for Washington in the bottom of the frame, and after setting down the first two hitters, disaster struck. Parker threw a 3-2 slider right down the center of the plate, and Xavier Edwards didn’t miss it, sending a game-tying solo homer out to left center to even us at four apiece. Parker would work around a two-out double to end the inning without further damage but enough had been done.

The Nationals’ offense continued to be dormant after the early surge, as Andrew Nardi came on in the top of the eighth and maintained the tie score with a very quick 1-2-3 inning. This was the same deal as last night, when the Nationals came out hot, scoring three in the first but then none over the next eight frames. It didn’t burn them last night but an inability to keep up that production over the course of the game definitely hurt them today.

Mitchell Parker proved in the bottom of the eighth that we just had the wrong guy today. After allowing a leadoff single, Mitchell walked the next batter, before allowing the big swing, a three-run home run by Jakob Marsee. The pitch was one he’d been burnt on already in the outing, a slider right down the middle. Just a really rough outing for Parker this afternoon, and a really hard pill to swallow after the Nationals opened the game with a 4-0 lead before allowing seven unanswered runs.

Miami would make it eighth after Parker exited the game, responsible for a runner on base. That runner scored instantly on a sacrifice fly by Leo Jimenez, making it 8-4, and eight unanswered runs for the Marlins.

Drew Millas came through with a ‘too little too late’ RBI single in the top of the ninth to make it 8-5. Or was it too late? James Wood made things REAL interesting with a two-run double to make it 8-7, still with just one out and now the tying run in scoring position. The Nats subbed Joey Weimer in to run for Wood at second, and one pitch later that decision came back to bite them in the butt. Weimar got caught too far off of second on a ball hit to third, a rundown ensued, and Joey was tagged out just short of the second base bag for the second out of the inning, taking the tying run out of scoring position, and after a CJ Abrams strikeout, the game was over abruptly, with the Marlins escaping the 8-7 game with a win. So many mistakes today by the Nationals just made it impossible to get a win, pitching, fielding, base running, hitting, you name it, there were plenty of mistakes made.

The Positives

While this one is a really bitter loss to stomach, we’re reminded today that in every game like this, there are positives to hang our hats on. Richard Lovelady was the headliner for the pitching staff today in this category, as he continues to impress as one of the main left-handed pieces in the Nats’ bullpen. We did get multi-hit games from both Luis Garcia and CJ Abrams, James Wood also found his way on three times, once via the first inning homer, a ninth inning double, and then a walk later in the game.

What’s Next?

This series will wrap up early tomorrow afternoon as the Nats will try for the series win in a battle of aces. Cade Cavalli (1-2, 4.15 ERA) will get the ball for the Nats, needing a positive outing to try and turn around what’s been a solid start to 2026, but with still some to be desired. The Marlins will counter with their longtime ace, Sandy Alcantara (3-2, 4.01 ERA). There will certainly be a lot of strikeout potential in that one, an early 12:15 start, with the game being broadcasted nationally on Peacock, with the Nationals looking to take their record back to .500.

Down on the Farm

AAA Rochester

• 7-4 win today at Syracuse
• Chandler Champlain: 6 innings, 3 hits, 2 runs, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts (ERA down to 3.09)
• Christian Franklin: 1-5, double (BA to .268, OPS at .758)
• Harry Ford: 1-3, home run (1), RBI, 2 walks (BA to .188, OPS to .557)
• Dylan Crews: 1-4, double, RBI, walk (BA to .252, OPS to .749)
• YoYo Morales: 1-5, home run (6), 2 RBIs (BA to .311, OPS to .894)
• Andrew Pinckney: 2-4, stolen base (BA to .252, OPS to .760)
• Trey Lipscomb: 1-3, home run (5), RBI, walk (BA to .243, OPS to .732)
• Tomorrow: 1:05 game at Syracuse (Riley Cornelio pitching)

AA Harrisburg

Game in progress versus Erie (score and stats will be added tonight)

High-A Wilmington

• 4-2 loss at Hub City this afternoon
• Riley Maddox: 5.2 innings, 6 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts (4.35 ERA)
• Merrick Baldo: 2 innings, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts (6.75 ERA)
• Devin Fitz-Gerald: 1-4, home run (6), RBI (BA to .315, OPS to 1.050)
• Angel Feliz: 2-4, double, stolen base (BA to .235, OPS to .677)
• Tomorrow: 4:35 game at Hub City (Bryan Polanco pitching)

Low-A Fredericksburg

• Game in progress at Hill City (Score and stats will be updated tonight)