Nationals 2 - 1 Marlins
Final
  for this game

Nats aim to sweep 4-game set with Marlins

Sep 21, 2014 - 12:06 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - Stephen Strasburg appears to be hitting peak form ahead of the playoffs and on Sunday afternoon will try to lead the Washington Nationals to their first ever four-game sweep of the Miami Marlins.

Strasburg has won four of his past five decisions, including a 4-2 victory over Atlanta on Monday. He hurled seven scoreless innings of five-hit ball, striking out seven without walking a batter. In fact, he has not issued a free pass in four consecutive outings while striking out 28 over that same span.

The right-hander is 12-11 with a 3.34 earned run average this season, including 1-2 with a 4.08 ERA in three starts versus Miami.

The Marlins will hope that Nathan Eovaldi can secure his first victory since Aug. 8 in today's finale.

Eovaldi is 0-6 with a 6.56 ERA in his last seven starts and just 1-9 with a 5.59 ERA in the past 15. He is coming off a 9-1 loss to the New York Mets on Tuesday, charged with six runs on six hits and two walks over 4 1/3 innings.

"(Eovaldi) didn't give us the start we needed," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. "It was tough."

The right-hander has fallen to 6-12 on the year with a 4.48 ERA, going 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA in two meetings with the Nationals on the season.

The Nationals rallied for a 3-2 victory on Saturday night, putting them in position for a sweep of this four-game set. It would mark their second sweep of the season series, having taken all three meetings of a set in Washington back on April 8-10.

The Nats plated all three of their runs in the seventh inning to erase a 2-0 deficit. Ryan Zimmerman and Asdrubal Cabrera both tripled in a run in the frame and Denard Span put Washington ahead with an RBI single with two outs.

Miami put runners on the corners with one out in the ninth, but Drew Storen induced a game-ending 4-6-3 double play from pinch-hitter Garrett Jones to register his ninth save of the season.

Zimmerman was 2-for-3 in his first game off the disabled list, having missed the previous 55 games with a Grade 3 hamstring strain. He played left field and was taken out of the game after the seventh inning, having been thrown out at home trying to score on a chopper to third as he remains unable to run at full speed.

"Pretty good," Nationals manager Matt Williams said of Zimmerman. "I didn't want to push it."

Zimmerman may get the day off on Sunday as the Nationals continue to chase home-field advantage for the upcoming playoffs. The National League East champions lead the Los Angeles Dodgers by 2 1/2 games in that race, having won seven of their last eight games.

Jarred Cosart surrendered three runs on nine hits and two walks over 6 1/3 frames for Miami, which has lost eight of its past 11.

"He made some great pitches," Redmond said of Cosart. "He's done a nice job."

Washington has a 9-5 edge against Miami this season and the NL East rivals will close out the season with four games at Nationals Park.






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