Marlins top Nationals behind Meyer’s dominant start

WASHINGTON (Interstat) — Max Meyer tossed seven innings of two-hit ball, and the Miami Marlins beat the Washington Nationals 4-1 on Wednesday afternoon at Nationals Park, completing a three-game sweep and winning their fourth straight game against the Nationals.

Meyer, who improved to 6-0 on the season, struck out seven and allowed only one unearned run. He walked two and did not give up a hit until the third inning. The right-hander lowered his ERA to 2.85 and has now won each of his past four starts.

Pete Fairbanks got the final three outs for his seventh save of the year. He allowed one hit and struck out one in the ninth inning.

The Marlins (29-34) opened the scoring in the second inning. Xavier Edwards led off with a single, but after Christopher Morel struck out, Esteury Ruiz launched a 1-0 pitch over the left-field wall for his third home run of the season, giving Miami a 1-0 lead.

Washington (31-32) answered in the third. Keibert Ruiz singled with one out, and Luis García Jr. walked. After a flyout, James Wood walked to load the bases. Dylan Crews then hit a grounder to shortstop Otto Lopez, who misplayed the ball for an error, allowing Keibert Ruiz to score and tying the game 1-1. Crews was credited with an RBI on the fielder’s choice. The Nationals threatened to add more, but Curtis Mead grounded into an inning-ending double play.

The score remained 1-1 until the eighth inning. The Marlins loaded the bases with nobody out on a single by Edwards, a walk to Liam Hicks and a bunt single by Jakob Marsee. After Owen Caissie struck out, Javier Sanoja grounded into a forceout at home for the second out. But Joe Mack followed with a two-run single to right field, scoring Hicks and Marsee to put Miami ahead 3-1.

Miami added an insurance run in the ninth. Otto Lopez led off with a single, and Kyle Stowers tripled to deep right field, driving in Lopez for his first triple of the season. The Marlins left the bases loaded but carried a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth.

Washington put two runners on in the ninth against Fairbanks — Dylan Crews was hit by a pitch and Curtis Mead singled — but Fairbanks struck out CJ Abrams and got Jacob Young to line out and Daylen Lile to pop out to end the game.

Clayton Beeter took the loss for Washington, falling to 1-1. He worked 2 1/3 innings in relief of starter Andrew Alvarez, allowing two runs on three hits with three walks and two strikeouts. Alvarez started and went 4 1/3 innings, giving up one run on four hits while striking out eight and walking two.

Miami outhit Washington 10-3. Edwards had two hits from the leadoff spot, and Morel singled once in two at-bats. Stowers collected the triple and an RBI, and Ruiz’s homer accounted for the early scoring. Joe Mack had the decisive two-run single and finished 1-for-3 with a walk. Jakob Marsee went 1-for-1 with a walk as a pinch hitter.

For Washington, Keibert Ruiz had one hit and scored the lone run, and Jacob Young also singled. The Nationals grounded into two double plays, killing potential rallies in the third and fourth innings. They struck out 11 times as a team and left five runners on base.

The sweep continued Miami’s recent dominance over Washington. The Marlins had won the first two games of the series by identical 7-3 scores on Monday and Tuesday, and they have taken four of five meetings between the clubs this season.

Before the series, Miami had lost five of its previous six games, including three straight to the New York Mets. The Nationals had won three of four heading into the series after taking two of three from the San Diego Padres.

The game drew an announced crowd of 16,695 and lasted 3 hours, 13 minutes.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Washington Nationals 5, Miami Marlins 4. Interstat’s ELO system gave Washington a 51.40 percent probability to win. Miami had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total of 5 runs went over the over-under line of 8.5.