Josh Rogers allowed just one run in a career-high 7 2/3 innings, leading the Washington Nationals to a 7-1 win over the host Miami Marlins on Tuesday night.
Rogers (2-0) yielded five hits and two walks while striking out four to help the Nationals (62-89) earn just their second victory in six games.
Nationals catcher Keibert Ruiz went 2-for-5 with one RBI. He has five RBIs in the first two games of this three-contest series.
The Marlins were led by catcher Nick Fortes, who hit his second homer in his fourth major league game.
Miami (64-87), which posted walk-off wins in each of its previous two games, are just two games ahead of the Nationals in the battle to stay out of the NL East cellar.
Marlins starter Trevor Rogers (7-8) tied his career high with 10 strikeouts. He yielded four hits, two walks and four runs (one earned) in 5 1/3 innings.
Miami opened the scoring with Fortes’ fifth-inning solo shot, which came on an 0-2 slider. The homer was measured at 403 feet.
Washington took a 4-1 lead in the sixth. Alcides Escobar walked and went to second on a one-out wild pitch. Josh Bell then reached on a fielding error on shortstop Miguel Rojas. Bell was originally called out, but that ruling was reversed on review.
Ruiz cashed in by hitting an RBI single. The throw home by left fielder Lewis Brinson caused a hard collision between Escobar and catcher Fortes, but both players remained in the game.
Yadiel Hernandez followed with a hard-hit RBI single that deflected off Rojas’ glove. After reliever Anthony Bass replaced Trevor Rogers, the Nationals produced two more RBI singles, by Jordy Mercer and Luis Garcia.
With two outs and no one on in the eighth, Miami loaded the bases when Rojas singled and Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Bryan De La Cruz walked, however, Washington reliever Andres Machado got Jesus Sanchez on a groundout to end the threat.
The Nationals stretched the lead to 7-1 in the ninth as Escobar and Juan Soto drilled two-run doubles back-to-back. That inning, against Marlins reliever Taylor Williams, featured three hits, two walks, two wild pitches, one passed ball and one steal.
–Field Level Media