Sunday, May 27, 2018 01:10 PM (ET)

Harper, Strasburg shine as Nationals top Marlins, 5-2

Field Level Media
May 27, 2018
Bryce Harper added to his National League lead in home runs and Stephen Strasburg pitched five scoreless innings and hit an RBI single as the Washington Nationals defeated the Miami Marlins 5-2 on Sunday afternoon at Marlins Park.

The Nationals swept the three-game series and have won 11 straight games against the Marlins, a franchise record for most consecutive wins against an opponent.

Harper, who went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts on Saturday, hit his 16th homer of the season, which leads the NL and is one back of the MLB lead. It was also his third homer in the past six games. He finished with two RBIs.

Anthony Rendon also powered Washington's offense, hitting a solo homer as well as a double.

Strasburg (6-4) allowed three hits and two walks while striking out eight, extending his scoreless streak against the Marlins to 23 innings. Since 2016, Strasburg is 6-0 against the Marlins.

Marlins right-hander Elieser Hernandez (0-2) took the loss despite allowing just six hits, no walks and two runs in five innings. Hernandez, a 23-year-old rookie from Venezuela, made his third career start, and he has allowed two runs or less in all of them.

Washington got to Hernandez in the fourth on Rendon's solo home run. On a pitch inside, Rendon slugged a 3-1 fastball over the wall in left-center for his fourth homer in his past 14 games. He had just one homer in his first 18 contests.

The Nationals extended their lead to 2-0 in the fifth. Wilmer Difo led off by pulling a first-pitch fastball to the gap in right-center. The ball rolled to the wall, and Difo legged out his first triple of the year. With one out, he scored when Strasburg hit an opposite-field single past second baseman Starlin Castro, who was playing in to try to get Difo at the plate.

In the sixth, facing lefty reliever Jarlin Garcia, Harper swung at an inside fastball, pulling his home run down the right field line.

The Nationals padded their lead to 5-0 in the seventh. Pedro Severino drew a one-out walk, advanced to second on Mark Reynolds' single and scored on Trea Turner's double. Harper capped the rally with a sacrifice fly.

Miami cut its deficit to 5-1 in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs and nobody on, Yadiel Rivera reached on a fielding error by Turner at shortstop. Rivera advanced on a Derek Dietrich single and scored on J.T. Realmuto's double.

The Marlins added Justin Bour's solo homer in the eighth. Bour, who drove a fastball from reliever Sammy Solis over the wall in center, leads Miami with 10 homers. But it was his first homer this year off a left-hander.

--Field Level Media

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