Jayson Werth’s first hit of the season propels Nats to 4-2 win against the Marlins
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Version 0 of 3. A player’s first hit of the season carries no extra significance, especially when he has been in the league 14 years. But when it comes in the fourth game of the season, after a slow 0 for 13 start, it undoubtedly feels better than most. On Sunday, in the seventh inning of the Washington Nationals’ 4-2 win over the Miami Marlins, Jayson Werth stepped to the plate with a target on his back. He will be 37 next month, coming off a 2015 season in which he battled injured. The Marlins chose to challenge him. With Bryce Harper on second base and Anthony Rendon on third, they intentionally walked Daniel Murphy and brought in right-handed reliever Edwin Jackson to face Werth. Jackson attacked Werth inside but left a fastball up and outside, enough for Werth to softly flick to no-man’s land in right-center for the RBI single that broke the 1-1 stalemate. On first base, Werth slapped his hands together and looked at his teammates in the dugout. The next hitter — Clint Robinson, who was starting at first base because Manager Dusty Baker wanted to get Ryan Zimmerman a day off – also collected his first hit of the season, a two-run single to left field that gave the Nationals the winning cushion. After sputtering for six innings, the Nationals’ offense finally turned baserunners into runs, giving Joe Ross the boost he needed to secure the win. Bad weather in spring training and on Saturday messed with Ross’s pitching schedule. Between March 21 and his season debut on Sunday, Ross had thrown only five innings against major league hitters. Despite the long layoff, Ross quickly settled into a groove and plowed through the Marlins’ lineup. He tossed seven strong innings, striking out five and allowing only one run on 97 pitches. Ross’s command was understandably off in the first inning. Before the game, Baker said he hoped Ross would pitch with his mind and not his body because it would be a challenge to instantly find his consistent delivery again. Ross navigated his way around his slider, a leadoff triple by Dee Gordon, a walk of Christian Yelich and a rocket single by Giancarlo Stanton. He allowed only one run and escaped a jam with a double play. From then on, Ross was in command. He found better control of his wicked slider and used a hard cut-back sinker to freeze batters and induce groundballs. He even flashed a change-up against left-handed batters, getting Yelich to fly out on one in the fourth inning. In jams in the fourth and sixth innings, Ross found a way out. Martin Prado tripled in the fourth with two outs when Harper dove for a sinking line drive. But Ross got Centreville native Justin Bour to fly out to end the threat. In the sixth, Gordon singled but Ross did a good job of keeping him honest at first base, and catcher Wilson Ramos threw him out on a stolen-base attempt. Ross pitched around a walk to get two more outs. Ross’s stout pitching allowed the Nationals to finally crack the Marlins’ pitching staff. Harper’s double in the first inning produced the first run of the game. From the second to the sixth inning, the Nationals produced plenty of baserunners but couldn’t push them across home plate. But once Rendon singled off Marlins starter Tom Koehler and Harper doubled off left-handed reliever Chris Narveson in the seventh inning, the Marlins chose to face Werth, and he finally came through with a hit. |