Pitching disappoints again as Marlins fall to Nationals

WASHINGTON Dan Jennings second-guessed his decision to stick with Brad Hand “a batter or two” too long on Saturday. Jennings might have had that same gnawing feeling on Sunday when he allowed Justin Nicolino to continue in a make-or-break moment.

That decision backfired, too.

With two outs in the sixth inning and the Marlins down 4-2, Nicolino coughed up a 3-run homer to Tyler Moore that all but sealed their fate in a 13-3 beat-down to Washington.

The Marlins aren’t playing for much of anything with two weeks to go, and Jennings has said he’s using the final stage of the season as an audition for some of the team’s younger players.

Accordingly, he’s managing differently than he would be if the Marlins were still in the hunt and the outcomes held any significance.

Jennings used Jose Urena in an atypical, eighth-inning setup spot on Friday, for example. Urena couldn’t protect the lead and the Marlins ended up losing.

And if Nicolino is going to prove himself worthy of a rotation spot in 2016, Jennings figures the Marlins need to see if the lefty can weather tough spots, such as the one he found himself in on Sunday.

The Nationals had just extended their lead to 4-2 on the Marlins and Nicolino on Wilson Ramos’ sacrifice fly. But with two still aboard, Jennings elected to have Nicolino work out of the spot.

Moore walloped Nicolino’s very first pitch over the wall, prompting Jennings to then go to his bullpen.

Not that matters suddenly improved.

The Nationals put the game out of reach by scoring three runs on Scott McGough, who failed to retire a batter, and Washington winners of three in a row over Miami ended up capturing the season series as a result, 10-9.

The Marlins were held in check Sunday by Stephen Strasburg, who struck out 10 over seven innings. Strasburg gave up an unearned run in the second and a Marcell Ozuna solo homer in the sixth.

(c)2015 Miami Herald

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