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Last Meeting ( Apr 27, 2024 ) Washington 11, Miami 4
Jacob Young flourishes in Florida.
The Ponte Vedra, Fla., native and former Florida Gator has four hits, two stolen bases and has scored five times to help the Washington Nationals win the first two games of a four-game set with the host Miami Marlins.
Young will look to propel the Nationals to a series win when the teams play again Sunday afternoon.
"J.Y.'s a stud, man," said Nationals outfielder Jesse Winker after Washington's 11-4 win on Saturday. " ... He's gonna be playing in the major leagues for a really long time. He does so many things well.
"He can really hit, he can really play defense. He's so fast. ... You love playing alongside guys like that."
Young has ignited the Nationals' offense despite batting ninth in the order in each of the series' first two games.
The speedy 24-year-old center fielder had two hits in Friday's 3-1 win, including a bunt single. He also laid down a sacrifice bunt that contributed to Washington's two-run eighth-inning, which broke a 1-1 tie.
Saturday's performance was more electric.
Young manufactured the Nationals' first run when he reached on an infield hit and stole second before scoring from third on a passed ball in the third inning. He swiped second base again in the sixth inning and dashed home from second on a throwing error.
In the seventh inning, Young hustled down the first base line to force another wild throw before racing home on CJ Abrams' triple to score his fourth run.
Young joined the Cincinnati Reds' Elly De La Cruz and the Kansas City Royals' Bobby Witt Jr. (twice) as the only players this season to score four runs in a game.
"When he gets on base, he makes things happen for us," Washington manager Dave Martinez said.
The Marlins' three errors in Saturday's loss contributed to what Miami manager Skip Schumaker called "probably the sloppiest (loss) of all of them."
Schumaker's squad has 20 errors its first 28 games this season.
"Obviously this is not what we envisioned coming out of spring training," Schumaker said. "We've had some injuries, but a lot of teams have had injuries. We just haven't played clean baseball."
Miami's bats haven't offered much relief. The Marlins have only eight runs throughout their current five-game losing streak, the team's longest skid since starting the season 0-9.
Luis Arraez (.301) and Bryan De La Cruz (.252) are Miami's only qualified hitters batting above .250.
"They're as frustrated as anybody," Schumaker said of his players.
Saturday's game, however, featured a few promising swings.
First baseman Josh Bell broke out of an 0-for-16 slump with two hits. And catcher Christian Bethancourt tallied his first hit of the season with an RBI single in the ninth inning to end an 0-for-29 drought.
Bethancourt then scored on Otto Lopez's first career home run, a 405-foot shot to dead center to cap the Marlins' three-run inning.
Miami will aim to build on Saturday's late offensive flurry when it faces Nationals left-hander Patrick Corbin (0-3, 6.51 ERA) on Sunday.
Corbin is winless over his last eight starts dating to September 2023 but is coming off his best outing this season. He pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings against the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday and earned a no-decision in Washington's 4-1 loss.
He is 5-7 with a 4.05 ERA over 18 career starts against the Marlins.
Miami will deploy left-hander Ryan Weathers (2-2, 3.16 ERA) for his sixth start this season. Weathers allowed three runs on six hits over 5 2/3 innings and shouldered the loss in the Marlins' 3-0 setback at the Atlanta Braves on Monday.
In two career starts against the Nationals, Weathers is 1-1 with a 6.35 ERA.
--Field Level Media