The Skinny: The Washington Nationals dropped a pair of games this weekend to the Florida Marlins. They lost on Friday, 7-3 and fell on Saturday by a score of, 11-0. The offense and pitching really struggled this weekend as the Nationals saw their mini hot streak come to an end. The Nationals are now 15-22 on the season.
The Pitching: Tim Redding got the start on Friday and got hit around a bit. Redding, who has been the most consistent Nationals starter this season, really struggled. He threw 5.1 innings, giving up 5 ER on 4 hits and 4 walks. He picked up the loss. The bullpen went 3.2 innings, giving up on 1 ER, helping keep the game within reach. Mike O’Connor started for Washington on Saturday and things went from bad to awful in a hurry. O’Connor lasted only 3.1 innings and allowed 9 ER as he allowed 6 hits, 6 walks, and 2 HR. It was O’Connor’s first start of the year after pitching out of the bullpen.
The Hitting: On Friday, the Nationals got two hits each from Nick Johnson, Cristian Guzman, and Lastings Milledge. The Nationals left nine men on base however, as they failed to cash in runs when they had the chances. Austin Kearns was 0-3 with two strike outs. On Saturday they obviously didn’t have much of anything going against Andrew Miller of the Marlins. They got a pair of hits from Felipe Lopez and one from Cristian Guzman, that was it. They were able to get only two walks so they really didn’t have many scoring opportunities.
What’s Next?: The Marlins and the Nationals will finish their series as the Nats try to pick up at least one win in the series. Shawn Hill will start for Washington. Game time is 1:35.