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Welcome to MASN's live thread for tonight's Nationals-Marlins game at Nationals Park. I'll have updates and analysis throughout the game, and whether you're just watching the game on TV or following online, you can participate by commenting in this thread. Or, if you're on Twitter, you can tag tweets with #masnnats, and they'll be included in the chat.
If you want to participate in the chat via our Gamezone space, which includes live stats, matchup data, pitch tracking and more, head here. And if you're not into the game chat experience, that's fine, too - I'll provide some periodic updates below the chat window.
Thru 7: Apologies for not updating this more frequently - I was watching part of the game in general manager Mike Rizzo's suite, talking to him about what he does during a game for his weekly blog entry. We'll have a video feature in that space this week, and you can look for that in the next day or two. As far as the game goes: This has been the complete opposite of the last time we saw Craig Stammen face the Marlins, when he got hit hard in a 7-1 loss in Florida last Saturday. Chris Volstad has been sharp, but not as sharp as he was in his four-hitter last week. Ryan Zimmerman homered off him to put the Nationals up 2-1 in the sixth, but Jorge Cantu answered with a homer off Stammen.
For the night, Stammen threw 109 pitches, 67 of them strikes, and allowed just one earned run in 6 2/3 innings, striking out a career-high eight batters with an impressive curveball and solid fastball. He's been inconsistent this year, but continues to show flashes of being a solid middle-of-the-rotation starter.
