Together again: Wendle, Anderson lift Marlins
For the first time in more than a month, the Miami Marlins had both Brian Anderson and Joey Wendle in their starting lineup.
They immediately felt the impact.
The duo combined for four hits, three RBI and two runs scored as the Marlins beat the Washington Nationals 6-3 on Friday at Nationals Park to begin a four-game series.
Anderson, who returned to the lineup Monday after missing 28 games due to lower back spasms, started the Marlins’
first rally. The third baseman waited patiently as he let Josiah Gray’s first three pitches of the third inning — a called strike and then two balls — go by. On the fourth pitch, an elevated 94.1 mph fastball on the inner third of the strike zone, Anderson pounced.
The ball sailed into the leftfield seats for a solo home run, Anderson’s third homer of the season. Miami (35-40) went on to score three runs in the inning, with a Wendle RBI single that scored Jon Berti and a Garrett Cooper RBI double that scored Wendle accounting for the other two runs.
Anderson also hit an RBI single in the sixth inning, the third of four consecutive hits to start that frame.
As for Wendle, he started at second base and hit second in the lineup after missing all 28 of the Marlins’ games in June due to a right hamstring injury.
Aside from his RBI single in the third, Wendle also hit a line-drive single to left in the fifth and drew a four-pitch walk in the sixth.
“Excited to be back,” Wendle said pregame.
The timing of his return was fortuitous for the Marlins.
With Jazz Chisholm Jr. landing on the injured list Wednesday with a right lower back strain, Wendle gives the Marlins a solid option to play at second base in addition to Berti and allows Anderson to get steady playing time at third base after bouncing between the hot corner, left field and right field this season.
On the mound, Trevor Rogers put together one of his best starts of a trying season by holding the Nationals (29-50) to one run on two hits and
The hitting of Brian Anderson and Joey Wendle, who finally were in the lineup together after overcoming recent injuries, backed up a solid performance by starter Trevor Rogers.
three walks with four strikeouts over five innings.
The only run Rogers allowed came in the fourth, when Juan
Soto scored from third as Nelson Cruz hit into a double play with no outs.
Rogers’ best two outings of the season have now both come at Nationals Park. He held the Nationals to one run over six innings on May 28 the first time he started against Washington on the road this season. That was the only time Rogers pitched six full innings in a start this year.
Friday night, Rogers (4-6) capped his outing by working around a pair of walks in the fifth by striking out Lane Thomas.
Since that May 28 game, Rogers has pitched beyond the fifth inning just once. He had a 6.15 ERA with 44 strikeouts against 22 walks and a .296 batting average against in 451⁄3 innings of work in the 10 games between May 28 and Friday, with Miami losing seven of those 10 games.
Reliever Dylan Floro took over in the sixth inning and gave up a two-run home run to Keibert Ruiz to cut Miami’s lead to 6-3 before
the trio of Anthony Bass, Steven Okert and Tanner Scott held the Nationals scoreless for the final three innings to seal the win. Scott earned his eighth save in nine opportunities.
ROJAS’ NIFTY BASERUNNING
Shortstop Miguel Rojas’ smart moves on the basepaths played a key role in the Marlins manufacturing a run in the fifth.
He opened the frame with a double when he sent a Gray slider down the left-field line. Rojas proceeded to steal third base with a fast break on a Gray curveball to start Berti’s at-bat two hitters later.
Berti worked the count full before hitting a sacrifice fly to shallow right field on a ball that nearly dropped after Soto got a bad read before making a diving grab. Rojas tagged and scored from third.
COOPER KEEPS HITTING
Cooper went 3 for 5 on Friday for his seventh three-hit game of the season. He had a pair of doubles and a single.
With that, Cooper is hitting .321 on the season.