Florida Marlins defeat Washington Nationals 3-0 – MLB Update
Javier Vazquez put in a brilliant performance as he threw a shut-out on Friday, September 16 to help the Florida Marlins beat the Washington Nationals 3-0 at Nationals Park, Washington.
It was the first complete shut-out for Vazquez in more than six years.
At a time when there are talks that he might be bidding farewell to baseball, his performance was amazing. "The way I'm pitching right now is not changing what I've been thinking for the last couple years," he said. "You've got to know what you want."
Everyone from his ardent fans to the trenchant critics had praise for Javier Vasquez.
"What a great job that Javy did," Florida manager Jack McKeon said. The guy's just been an inspiration to some of the guys around here."
Part of the reason why Vazquez remained beyond the reach of the Washington Nationals’ offence was his unplayable fastballs. “He used a lot more fastballs than I think we're used to seeing from him." said Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond, who was 0-for-4.
The Marlins’ starter’s rival on Friday was John Lannan who gave up three runs and allowed eight hits in his six innings with a 3.68 ERA and only one strike-out. Compared to that, Vazquez simply stunned everyone with only five hits that he allowed in his
nine innings with seven strike-outs.
Lannan pitched a scoreless first inning followed by that of Vazquez who did not allow even a single hit in the inning. As the first inning ended, the Marlins’ offence put up a surge that helped them maintain their ascendancy throughout the game.
When Lannan came on the mound in the second, John Buck singled to centre to score the first run for the Marlins which was strengthened by a tremendous spell from the Marlins’ Vazquez. He managed to restrict the Nationals with his effective pitching.
With a 1-0 lead into the third inning, Mike Stanton had a one-run double to take the lead to 2-0 while Gaby Sanchez was quick enough to score another single, tripling the Florida Marlins’ lead by the end of the third inning.
Vazquez kept pounding the Nationals’ offence while Craig Stammen relieved Lannan in the seventh inning. He pitched a shut-out seventh and eighth but none of the Nationals’ hitters were able to reverse the 3-0 lead.
Javier pitched the ninth with remarkable efficacy to conclude the game 3-0 for the Florida Marlins against the straining offence of the Washington Nationals.
The Marlins put in a decent performance as they fought hard against the Nationals throughout the game. Washington will be looking to improve their performance before their next match-up in the remainder of the regular season.
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