Miami Marlins Lose 101st Game to Washington Nationals

On Saturday evening at Marlins Park, the Miami Marlins dropped their 101st game of the season.

A day after losing 100 games for the third time in franchise history, they lost 101 for just the second. The only thing left to play for at this point is to try to avoid eclipsing their worst-ever 54-108 campaign in 1998. At 53-101, they need one more to tie and two more to avoid the fate. Either way, the Miami Marlins will secure either the second or third overall pick in the 2020 MLB Amateur Draft.

Stephen Strasburg Continues to Have Miami Marlins Number

Stephen Strasburg didn’t secure his 13th straight win over the Miami Marlins, but he was ringing them up with regularity and left with a 4-0 lead after seven innings of mostly solid ball. He allowed three hits and walked three while striking out six, getting 68-of-109 over the plate. He escaped the seventh despite loading the bases and a Jorge Alfaro HBP, and gave way to ex-Marlins disappointment Fernando Rodney.

The Rookie-Outfield Powered Turnaround

With Rodney facing his former team, Miguel Rojas lined his second double of the game and 29th of the campaign to greet the 42-year-old reliever. After a Neil Walker strikeout, Starlin Castro hit his 29th two-bagger of the season to finally get the Miami Marlins on the board. After Isan Diaz drew a walk and Harold Ramirez singled to load the bases, Austin Dean hit his 12th double of the season to empty them. The timely hit tied the score and breathed new life into a better-than-average crowd of 18,085.

Magneuris Sierra had a say in the game as well. Despite going just one-for-five, he’s hitting .324 in his late season look, and making the most of his opportunity. In the third inning, Sierra nabbed Asdrubal Cabrera trying to score from second on a Yan Gomes single by about 20 feet with a perfect throw.

All’s Bad That Ends Bad

The late effort gave the Miami Marlins a chance to take a win from the Nationals, but they couldn’t bring another run home in the eighth or in the ninth. Jose Urena struck out two and didn’t allow a run in the ninth, but it all came unraveled for him in the extra frame.

Ryan Zimmerman greeted Urena with a single, and Victor Robles followed with another to put runners on the corners. After a mound visit, Urena struck out Gomes, but then allowed Brian Dozier an RBI-single to take the lead. Urena then got Trea Turner swinging before getting lifted in favor of Josh D. Smith.

Smith immediately allowed a second-pitch RBI-single to Adam Eaton. After an intentional walk of Anthony Rendon, he allowed an unintentional bases-loaded walk to Juan Soto. Kurt Suzuki then added a bases-clearing double for a 10-4 lead. The bottom of the inning would see no additional heroics on the part of the mostly young Marlins, with a Castro strikeout, a Diaz fly out, and a Ramirez whiff to end the game.

Eight Miami Marlins Pitchers

The Miami Marlins used a total of eight pitchers to get through the extra-inning affair, starting with Jordan Yamamoto. Yamamoto struck out three and gave up six hits and three bases-on-balls over 4 1/3 innings to take no-decision. He got 47-of-79 over the plate. Brian Moran retired the only batter he faced with a three pitch strikeout, and Tyler Kinley finished the fifth after allowing an RBI-single (charged to Yamamoto).

Kyle Keller pitched a perfect sixth, and Jeff Brigham tossed a scoreless seventh, despite surrendering a hit. Tayron Guerrero watched his ERA balloon up to 6.40 after giving up a pair of runs on three hits in the eighth.

Starlin Castro’s Resurgence

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After recently tying a career-high with his 21st homer, Castro’s RBI was his 81st of the season. That’s three more than he collected in his prior career-best season, in 2012 with the Chicago Cubs. Castro’s start was notably slow, but he’s rebounded to put up a .271/.300/.432 slashline with eight games to go in the season. He’s the only player on the Miami Marlins to have appeared in all 154 games.

Since July 2nd, Castro has slashed .320/.352/.575, with 16 round-trippers and 47 RBI. The Marlins have a $16 million team option for Castro’s 2020 season, with a $1 million buyout. The only question is, if they pick up the option, will they get the below-replacement-level Castro that started the 2019 season – or the all-star-level Castro that we’ve seen over the second-half.

The Marlins will close their season series with the Nationals this afternoon at 1:10 P.M. Pablo Lopez (5-8, 4.94) will take the hill opposite Austin Voth (1-1, 3.58). Thanks for reading. Follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and subscribe to our daily newsletter to keep up with all the Miami Marlins developments.