Mitchell Parker fired six strong innings as the Washington Nationals completed a three-game sweep of the visiting Miami Marlins with a 3-1 win on Sunday afternoon.
Lane Thomas and Jacob Young hit solo home runs for the Nationals, who won for the eighth time in their last nine games and pulled to within one game of .500. They also swept the Marlins in a four-game series in Miami in late April.
Parker (5-3) scattered six hits, allowing one run and striking out four with no walks. He lowered his ERA to 3.06 and continued the Nationals’ string of strong starts. They began the day leading the majors with a 1.40 ERA and a .196 opponents’ batting average since June 6.
In five innings, Marlins starter Jesus Luzardo (3-6) gave up two runs, both of Washington’s homers, on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts.
Lane Thomas took Luzardo deep in the first inning to give the Nationals a 1-0 lead. After Miami tied the game in the top of the fifth, Young led off the bottom of the inning with his first career home run in his 325th plate appearance for a 2-1 lead.
Thomas, who has seven homers in 2024, went deep in all three games of the series.
Washington added on in the sixth against right-hander Anthony Bender on an RBI double by Ildemaro Vargas. Young and Keibert Ruiz had two hits apiece among the Nationals’ nine.
The Marlins scratched out their run when Emmanuel Rivera doubled with one out in the fifth, took third on a groundout and scored when Parker couldn’t pick up Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s dribbler between the mound and first base. It went as a hit.
Derek Law, Robert Garcia and Kyle Finnegan combined to blank the Marlins on two hits over the final three innings. Finnegan worked the ninth to pick up his 20th save.
Chisholm and Josh Bell each had two hits as Miami finished with eight. The Marlins, who were outscored 15-2 in the series, have lost five straight games and seven of eight.
The Nationals’ CJ Abrams extended his hitting streak to 10 with a single in the seventh.
Nationals outfielder/DH Jesse Winker said he expects to miss a few games after leaving Saturday’s contest with a right knee issue. An MRI showed no structural damage.
–Field Level Media
