WASHINGTON _ Don Mattingly just grinned when a hypothetical about the heart of the Washington Nationals' order was posed to him before the Miami Marlins continued a three-game series in Washington on Saturday. Anthony Rendon, the Nationals' No. 3 hitter, smacked a walk-off hit on Friday as Juan Soto waited in the on-deck circle and a theory was posed to the manager a day later about potentially walking the MVP hopeful to get to a mere All-Star.
It was an impossible dilemma Friday. Saturday was the proof.
Rendon and Soto, again batting third and fourth in Washington's lineup, combined to go 3 for 3 with a double, two home runs, three RBIs, four runs and a hit by pitch in their two chances against Pablo Lopez. By the time they and the Nationals chased the starting pitcher after three innings, the Marlins were crashing toward a franchise record 14th straight road loss and mathematical elimination from the postseason with a 7-0 rout.
Now 25 games out of the second wild-card spot, Miami (48-87) can be eliminated as early as Monday with a combination of three losses and Chicago Cubs wins.
The final month of the season will be meaningless for the Marlins, so one of their top priorities is getting a strong finish from Lopez. The right-handed pitcher spent more than two months on the injured list with a shoulder strain before he returned to face the Cincinnati Reds on Monday.
His first outing was a mixed bag and he battled through five innings against a middling team. The Nationals (76-58) wouldn't make a second try so simple.
Lopez (5-7) handled the first two batters Saturday before the devastating duo of Rendon and Soto stepped to the plate. In two batters, the pitcher's outing started to unravel.
After the crowd of 27,539 chanted "M-V-P," Rendon fouled off three pitches to work a full count and eventually get a 94-mph pitch over the middle of the plate. The third baseman turned and launched a solo home run 402 feet over the left-field fence at Nationals Park. Two pitches later, Soto got a change-up on the outside of the plate and the left-handed outfielder launched it to nearly the exact same place in the left-field stands.
An inning later, Stephen Strasburg drove in a run with a single. In the third, Lopez hit Rendon with a pitch and served up an RBI double to Soto. With two outs, he coughed up another home run, this time to catcher Kurt Suzuki, and his day was over as soon as he got out of the inning. In his second outing off the IL, Lopez lasted only three innings and 63 pitches, giving up six runs on six hits with just one strikeout.
The first inning alone was enough to doom Miami with Strasburg (16-5) on the mound. The starting pitcher has the second best career ERA against Miami and the second most strikeouts, and he was at his best after surviving a pair of one-out singles in the top of the first. The righty went eight shutout innings Saturday, striking out 14 and recorded 23 straight outs to finish his outing. His final victim: outfielder Lewis Brinson who struck out looking at a pitch high and tight, and quickly got ejected for arguing the call.
Just after Strasburg threw the final pitch, Rendon punctuated the blowout. Relief pitcher Adam Conley entered to pitch the bottom eighth for the Marlins and Rendon came up swinging.
On the first pitch of the inning, he slugged another home run.
