The Florida Marlins (2-2) have handed the Washington Nationals (1-3) their first road loss of the season, 3-2, after a Donnie Murphy single drove in the winning run off Sean Burnett in the bottom of the tenth inning. Jayson Werth's error on an Omar Infante pop-up in the tenth did indeed turn out to be the fatal blow, as is often the case.
But despite the loss, the hometown nine have to be happy with the start they received from Jason Marquis. The much beleaguered Nats right hander began his 2011 campaign in excellent fashion, tossing six innings of two run ball, allowing only six hits and zero walks. Marquis' solid pitching performance was matched by Florida right hander Anibal Sanchez, who also allowed only two runs in his 5+ innings, striking out seven against seven hits allowed and three walks.
The Nats offense was provided by a first inning Michael Morse RBI single and a third inning Ryan Zimmerman home run, his first round tripper of the year. Unfortunately, Washington was a woeful one of eight with runners in scoring position, stranding 12 men on base, a major problem for the team in this young season.
Aside from extra inning hero Murphy, Logan Morrison provided offensive support for the Marlins, going two for four and hitting his second home run of the year.
Tomorrow, the Nationals will look to Livan Hernandez to lead them to their first road win of the year. He will face Marlins hard throwing righty Chris Volstad. First pitch is once again 7:10pm, and from the looks of tonight's fan support, good seats are most certainly available.