Nationals at Marlins
Sometime over the weekend, the honor of being the National League East's hottest team was passed from the Washington Nationals to the Miami Marlins. Led by the red-hot Max Scherzer, the Nationals hope to return to their winning ways Tuesday when they begin a three-game set in Miami against the surging Marlins.
Washington (37-40) rolled off five straight victories at home to continue its ascent from a team that sported a 19-31 record on May 23 to a club that moved within one game of .500 after knocking off division-leading Atlanta on Friday. The Nationals were unable to get over the hump, however, surrendering nine runs after the sixth inning in Saturday's 13-9 setback before giving up a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the 10th on Sunday en route to a 4-3 defeat. Miami (30-46) owns the worst record in the NL but enters the opener of its six-game homestand on a four-game winning streak after completing a 5-2 road trip with a three-game sweep of Philadelphia. The Marlins have dropped four of their seven meetings with Washington in 2019, although they won two of three at home from April 19-21 for their first and only series victory during a 10-31 start.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, MASN (Washington), FS Florida
PITCHING MATCHUP: Nationals RH Max Scherzer (6-5, 2.62 ERA) vs. Marlins RH Trevor Richards (3-7, 3.54)
Scherzer turned in an inspired effort in Wednesday's win over Philadelphia, overcoming a broken nose he suffered during batting practice the day before to strike out 10 over seven scoreless innings. The three-time Cy Young Award winner has won each of his four turns this month while posting a 0.93 ERA and holding the opposition to a .154 batting average. Scherzer was tagged for a season-high seven runs (six earned) across 5 1/3 frames in Miami on April 20 but is 12-4 with a 3.20 ERA in 21 starts overall against the Marlins.
Although he is winless in his last three outings and only has three victories in 15 starts, Richards is enjoying one of the best stretches of his career, holding the opposition to one run or fewer in five of his last six turns. The most recent of those performances came in a no-decision Wednesday against St. Louis when he held the Cardinals to one run and fanned eight over 5 2/3 innings. Richards took the loss in his only start against Washington this season after yielding three runs in 6 1/3 frames.
WALK-OFFS
1. Nationals OF Juan Soto is batting .438 during his nine-game hitting streak.
2. Miami OF-1B Garrett Cooper is batting .404 during his career-high 14-game hitting streak. He has also reached base safely in a personal-best 20 straight games - a stretch during which he has lifted his on-base percentage from .306 to .395.
3. Washington's 18-9 record since May 24 is tied with Atlanta for the second-best mark in the majors over that span entering Monday's action.