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The Nationals averted a shutout in a 3-1 loss to the Marlins on Friday night, but just barely. It was Washington's third straight loss and came despite a decent effort from left-hander John Lannan.
Lannan allowed three runs on seven hits over 6 2/3 innings, but got no offensive support from his teammates. The Marlins scored twice in the first inning and got a Brad Davis homer leading off the seventh. After the lefty departed, the Washington bats finally woke up.
Washington mounted a two-out rally in the eighth against Marlins reliever Leo Nunez. Ryan Zimmerman singled, Adam Dunn hit a ground-rule double into the Marlins bullpen in left-center and Roger Bernadina followed with a run-scoring single to left. Nunez was pulled in favor of Clay Hensley, who got Michael Morse, the potential go-ahead run, to fly out to center on his first pitch.
There was no resumption of last week's hostilities from Sun Life Stadium in Miami, where a bench-clearing brawl erupted in the last of three games. Both teams were on their best behavior, even when Washington's Ian Desmond was hit in the left hip by Marlins starter Alex Sanabia in the first inning.
Heading down to the clubhouse. More details to follow postgame.
