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For a second day in a row, the Nationals have given away an opportunity to win a series in Miami, once again thanks to a meltdown by a bullpen that has been solid lately but faced some serious regression this weekend. Tonight’s meltdown came from Gus Varland, who came in to a 2-2 game in the bottom of the eighth inning, and in the process of recording one out, gave up three runs and the game. Another frustrating, yet predictable, episode of mediocrity from a unit that we knew would be bad, but I think a lot of us latched on to some false hope this week after a group of relievers had seemingly caught fire.

Mitchell Parker has been a much better piece for this Nationals pitching staff since being moved to the bullpen, and today was one of the days that remind us why that move was made. The Nats gave him the ball in a one-run game, and over the course of a one-inning outing, five runs would cross the plate, giving Miami a huge win to even the series. The offense is just as guilty in this one, for a second straight night, the Nats got off to a hot start at the plate, only to go completely silent until the ninth inning. The Nationals finally woke back up in the top of ninth to make it extremely interesting, but ultimately did themselves in on one of numerous mistakes that were made today. A recipe that isn’t going to win you many games, especially given how Blake Butera and company have to manage games in order to win.

The Nationals held a 3-2 lead over the Marlins tonight after just one inning of play, and sure enough, that was the same score we sat on after nine innings were through. A blistering start by both offenses in the first inning turned into a pitcher’s duel as both lefty starters, Foster Griffin and Robby Snelling settled in after that. The Nats got a big fly from Jacob Young, seven strong innings from Foster Griffin, five clean outs from Brad Lord (should have been six if not for an error behind him), and a one-out save from PJ Poulin to claim the first of this three-game series in Miami.

Photo by Bailey Accorto for TalkNats

The Nationals, after six tries, have finally won a home series in the Blake Butera era!! The Nats had to get a little bit scrappy in this one. With an electric offensive performance by Keibert Ruiz and a stout effort from back of the bullpen, that was enough to carry the squad to a 7-5 victory this afternoon, capturing the three-game series against the Twins.