WSH 6, MIA 3: Attacked by Nats

JUPITER, FL—After emerging victorious in their Grapefruit League opener against St. Louis on Saturday, the Marlins returned to Roger Dean, this time as the home team, falling 6-3 in their inaugural meeting against their division rival Washington Nationals.

Making his spring debut, Jesús Luzardo looked to be in mid-season form, tossing two perfect innings, striking out 3. Luzardo, who led the club with 208 punchouts in 2023, consistently sat 95-97 mph with his fastball. 

"My main goal was to go out there and fill it (the strike zone) up," said Luzardo.

Noted to be working on refining his changeup in 2024, Luzardo, 26, threw 6 said pitches (all for strikes), inducing 3 outs in the process. 

Opposing him, MacKenzie Gore, though allowing a run via a Christian Bethancourt 2nd inning RBI single, held his own in his spring debut, striking out 4 in his 2 innings of work.

Miami would plate their second run in the bottom of the 3rd by way of another newcomer, utility man Nick Gordon, who singled home Luis Arraez. Arraez, the defending NL batting champ, went 0-for-2 with a strikeout in his spring debut, reaching on a fielder's choice in his second at-bat. 

In what felt like a preview of what's to come in the nation's capital, outfielder James Wood, the centerpiece in the trade that sent Juan Soto to San Diego at the 2022 trade deadline, authored his second home run in as many days with a two-run shot that evened the score in the 4th. In his first two spring contests, Wood has OPS'd a 2.100 clip.

Old friend Lewin Díaz delivered a payback blow to his former employer when he crushed a two-run homer of his own off recently acquired Calvin Faucher in the top of the 6th. Known as an all-field, no-hit first baseman whilst in Miami (plus-16 DRS, 1.2 dWAR), Díaz hit just .181/.227/.340 in 343 plate appearances between 2020-22. 

Though Miami would tack on a third run in the 8th following a Marty Costes sacrifice fly that scored Troy Johnston (3-for-3 on Sunday), Washington's parade of relievers limited the damage to close out the win. 

Reflecting on Johnston, who hit 26 home runs and stole 20 bases between AA and AAA last season, manager Skip Schumaker spoke glowingly of the 26-year old.

"He's hitting lefties, righties, he's running the bases well. He's looking like a big leaguer."

Of Note

• Sunday marked the return to the mound for reliever Anthony Bender, who authored a scoreless 3rd inning that saw him strike out third baseman Trey Lispcomb. Missing all of 2023 after undergoing Tommy John Surgery at the end of the 2022 season, Bender owns a career 2.90 ERA in 82 games pitched.
• Speaking to the media pre-game, manager Skip Schumaker noted the club expects recently signed Tim Anderson to see game action in the coming days. 
• NRI Trey Mancini's slow start to spring continued, going 0-2 with 2 more K's. He's struck out in all 4 plate appearances to begin Grapefruit League play.

Looking Ahead

The Marlins will return to action at Roger Dean Stadium Monday where they'll again match up against their facility roommates, the St. Louis Cardinals, at 1:10 ET. Eury Pérez is slated to start for Miami. After serving as the home team in their first meeting on February 24, Miami will assume home field, as they did Sunday.