Strasburg shuts down Marlins; Nats take series

MIAMI — On full display Tuesday at Marlins Park was one of the Washington Nationals’ primary advantages over the Miami Marlins: top-flight starting pitching.

Right-hander Stephen Strasburg shut the Marlins out for six innings in the Nationals’ 2-1 win. That followed his complete-game shutout against them last week. In all, Strasburg has thrown 18 consecutive scoreless innings against Miami, starting during their Opening Day matchup in April.

The Marlins, of course, have looked helpless against pitchers of all qualities recently. They are losers of eight of their past nine games. In the losses, they have scored a combined 12 runs. (In the lone win, they exploded for 10.)

As the Nationals coast to another NL East title, Strasburg is in peak form. His 26 straight scoreless frames is a team record.

And Strasburg isn’t alone in representing that advantage of genuine front-line rotation arms that Washington holds over Miami. Right-hander Max Scherzer, a perennial Cy Young Award candidate, is the Nats’ ace, and left-hander Gio Gonzalez, the Hialeah native who a decade into his big league career is having perhaps his best season, rounds out the team’s big three. Gonzalez will face the Marlins in the teams’ season series finale Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Strasburg struck out eight, walked none and scattered six hits.

Miami wasn’t completely chance-less versus Strasburg this time. It had one hit in every inning against him.

In the second, with a runner on first and nobody out, Derek Dietrich scorched a changeup — an estimated 100 mph — but directly at first baseman Adam Lind for an unassisted double play. In the fifth, righty Odrisamer Despaigne failed to get sacrifice bunt down, putting him at first base instead of Miguel Rojas, who was forced out at second. In the sixth, Strasburg ended his night by stranding Marcell Ozuna on first and getting J.T. Realmuto looking at a vicious curveball.

Despaigne did well at his main job. He pitched seven innings of one-run ball, allowing five hits and two walks while striking out two. The Nationals scored in the second inning, on Pedro Severino’s single to right, but he settled in to retire 11 in a row and throw just 30 pitches his next three innings.

Daniel Murphy homered over Giancarlo Stanton’s head in the eighth, a line drive off righty Kyle Barraclough.

MIKE EHRMANN/GETTY IMAGES Stephen Strasburg has thrown 18 consecutive scoreless innings against Miami this season.