MIA 4, WSH 2: Sweeping the Nation!

Strong effort from Luzardo, bullpen, and Amaya help Fish move to 10 games over .500.

The Miami Marlins win. It's something that hasn't been said all too often in recent seasons, but here, in 2023, it's practically a daily utterance. Their 4-2 Father's Day victory secured their second series sweep of the season against the Washington Nationals.

In what has been a Jekyll-and-Hyde pattern of performance of late, Jesús Luzardo was the former on Sunday. Completing 6 innings for the 7th time this season, Luzardo, with his father in attendance, held Washington to 2 runs on 5 hits, striking out 5 and walking 1. Despite a 6.15 ERA in his 5 previous starts since May 21st, Luzardo has fallen victim to an extreme case of bad luck, as noted by a 3.34 FIP and .475 opponent OPS in that span.

With two outs in the 6th and a pitch count of just 76 pitches, Luzardo proceeded to allow back-to-back hard-hit singles to Joey Meneses (103.4 mph exit velocity) and Keibert Ruiz (102.7). Next batter and potential go-ahead run, Stone Garrett, made for a trifecta of 100+ mph batted balls, though his would result in a fly ball to center fielder Jonathan Davis for the third out.

The Marlins would open the scoring in the top of 2nd when Jacob Amaya—making his MLB debut—delivered an RBI via a force out in his first career at bat. In 58 games before being recalled from AAA, Amaya had hit .278 with an .818 OPS.

Speaking postgame, Amaya referred back to his family, who were in attendance to watch their son's debut.

"I went to see them right before the game, and that definitely calmed some nerves," said Amaya to Bally's Jessica Blaylock.

Miami would tack on their second run an inning later thanks to Nick Fortes sacrifice fly.

Pitching with a 2-0 lead in the last half of the 3rd, Luzardo would make his only true mistake of the day. Following a base hit that fell just right in front of left fielder Bryan De La Cruz, Washington right fielder Lane Thomas capitalized on a hanging slider for his second home run of the series.

But, as the Miller's tale has been told all season, the Marlins would answer.

Amaya would pickup teammate Garrett Hampson's lead, singling in his second at bat in the top of the 4th for his first career hit.

"It took me 12 at-bats to get a hit," laughed Skip Schumaker when referring to Amaya's 4th inning single. "(Amaya has) shown confident, and he'll finish a game one of these days."

The aforementioned De La Cruz would drive Hampson in via a sacrifice fly in what would turn out to be the eventual go-ahead run. Jorge Soler would add some insurance one batter later, singling in Amaya to make it a 4-2 Miami lead. Soler now has driven in a run in 11 of his 16 games when playing the outfield this season.

Though they would fail to score past the 4th inning, Miami touched up long-struggling Washington starter Patrick Corbin for 11 singles in his 6 innings of work.

In relief of Luzardo, Miami would get scoreless 7th and 8th innings from Steven Okert and Dylan Floro. The club then turned to Andrew Nardi after having gone to A.J. Puk the previous two 9th innings. Working around a leadoff double from Ruiz, Nardi bounced back to record back-to-back strikeouts before getting Dominic Smith to pop out to end the contest.

The Marlins improved to 41-31, making for the first time they have been 10 games over .500 since rebranding ahead of the 2012 season. The last instance of this team being 10 over came on May 28, 2011, when they were 30-20 as the still-Florida Marlins.

Miami ends the road trip 6-3.

Of Note

• Amaya becomes just the second player in franchise history to drive in a run and steal a base in his MLB debut. Jerar Encarnación accomplished the feat nearly a year to the day on 6/19/2022. He is the 95th player since 1901 to have at least one hit, stolen base, and RBI in his debut.
• Baker's Dozen: Jon Berti's 3 hits Sunday made for the 13th time in his career in which he's had at least 3 hits in a single game.
• Andrew Nardi hasn't allowed an earned run since April 30, during which time his ERA has plummeted from 5.84 to 2.27. Nardi became just the 6th pitcher in franchise history to work 20 consecutive outings without allowing an earned run.

Looking Ahead

Upon returning home, Miami's upcoming schedule will see them squaring up against some tougher competition. Monday will see the commencement of a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Toronto will send the recently resurgent José Berríos (7-4, 3.28 ERA) to the hill in Game 1. Miami was set to start Edward Cabrera, though he's been placed on the 15-day IL with a right shoulder impingement. Skip Schumaker confirmed that Bryan Hoeing will start in Cabrera's place. First pitch from loanDepot Park is slated for 6:40 EST.

Featured image courtesy of Miami Marlins