Fourth Inning Costly as Miami Marlins fall to Nationals 7-2

The Miami Marlins suffered their 15th loss of the season on Saturday afternoon as they fell to the Washington Nationals 7-2. With the loss, the Marlins now stand at 11-15 overall, and need a win to avoid a series sweep in DC tomorrow.

After dropping the series opener to the Nationals on Friday night 2-1, the Miami Marlins returned to the field on Saturday afternoon looking to tie the series at a game apiece.

The Marlins sent RHP Paul Campbell to the mound for his fifth appearance of the season, and the first start of his young MLB career. Opposing Campbell was Nationals SP Patrick Corbin, who had an ERA over 10.00+ coming into today.

Campbell struggled early as he allowed 2 runs in the first two innings, while also allowing 6 hits during that time. The game was still in reach for the Marlins during that time, but the bats were non-existent for the Fish to start allowing the Nationals to pull away.

The 4th inning was a struggle for the Miami Marlins. 

Campbell and the Marlins ran into some trouble in the Bottom of the 4th as the Nationals scored 5 runs in the inning, which included a 2-run HR by Nationals catcher Yan Gomes to help chase Campbell from the game. Campbell finished his first start of the season allowing 4 runs over 3.2 innings while giving up 9 hits and striking out 4.

The Nationals also added a bases-clearing 3-RBI double from Nationals 1B Josh Bell off of new Marlins pitcher Ross Detwiler to bring the score to 7-0.

The Marlins later added two runs off of a solo-HR from Jesus Aguilar and a sac-fly from Isan Diaz, but the bats were quiet for the most part on Saturday afternoon as they only finished with 4 hits.

There were a few notable positive takeaways from this game however as catcher Chad Wallach went 2-4 at the plate, as well as the Marlins late bullpen comprised of Adam Cimber, Jordan Holloway, and John Curtiss combining to fire four scoreless innings.

The Miami Marlins will return to the field on Sunday afternoon in the series finale again the Nationals. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 pm ET with Marlins probable starter Trevor Rogers (3-1 1.29 ERA) scheduled to face Nationals probable starter Max Scherzer (1-2 3.00 ERA).