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We've played 4 1/2 innings at Nationals Park, and between a tedious outing from John Lannan and some baserunning mistakes from the offense, things aren't going well for the Nationals.
Lannan has thrown 95 pitches in five innings, walking four batters in addition to giving up three hits. He's managed to allow only two runs, but both of the runners that scored were batters who got on base because of walks. It's almost a cardinal rule of baseball that you'll get burned by walks, and Lannan still walks too many batters for a left-hander who relies on control. He's likely done for the day, and the Nationals' bullpen will have to account for another four innings.
Lannan also made a mistake on a Brad Hand bunt in the fourth inning, failing to look Mike Cameron back to third base before throwing Hand out at first. Cameron raced home to score before Michael Morse could throw home in time.
The Nationals scored their only run on a Jayson Werth RBI single that fell in after the right fielder swung at a 3-0 pitch and hit a weak blooper to right field. But it dropped between three Marlins, and after retreating to their bases, the three Nationals on base all hurried to their next station in time to score a run.
But they cost themselves in the bottom of the fourth when Ian Desmond got caught stealing third with Danny Espinosa at the plate - batting left-handed after Hand had come out of the game. They'll have to clean up their mistakes if they want to avoid a sweep.
