3 Reasons the Marlins Lost the Series to the Nationals

Stanton struck out at an inopportune time, stranding Marcell Ozuna on third base. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Momentum: 

I know that statisticians would cringe at my mention of the “M” word. It is virtually impossible to quantify, yet there are times that you just know when something good or bad is about to happen. Case in point: Look at the fifth inning last night. After a strike out of Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna stayed hot with a double into left field. That was followed up by a throwing error on an attempted pick-off of Ozuna, allowing him to advance to third base with one out and the three and four hitters for the Marlins coming to the plate.

All Giancarlo Stanton has to do is hit a fly ball and we have a 4 run lead, and are in a much better position to win the game. Instead Stanton strikes out on a slider that wasn’t even close.

No problem, we have our cleanup hitter coming to the plate surely he can…ohhh wait, he just swung at the first pitch and popped it up for the third out. It was so deflating that I had a terrible feeling about what was to come. That momentum certainly led to the next reason.