The Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals opened a three-game series Friday night at loanDepot park, with first pitch set for 7:10 p.m. ET. Ryan Gusto took the ball for the Marlins, while Brad Lord was expected to start for the Nationals.
The matchup gave the Marlins a chance to steady a season that had them at 64-64 and third in the NL East, but Gusto arrived with uneven numbers of his own. He was 0-3 with a 4.70 ERA, a line that put more weight on this start than a routine series opener usually carries.
Lord came in with a 5-2 record and a 4.04 ERA, giving the Nationals a different kind of starting-pitching profile in a game between teams separated by only a few games in the standings. The Nationals were 61-68 and fourth in the NL East, so Friday’s meeting was less about one night in isolation than about whether either club could turn a division game into something more useful over the next two meetings.
Both teams also had roster holes that mattered before the first pitch. Kyle Stowers was on the 10 Day IL with a hamstring injury for Miami, while Max Meyer, William Kempner and Anthony Bender were on the 15 Day IL. The Marlins also had Adam Mazur, Andrew Nardi, Robby Snelling and Ronny Henriquez on the 60 Day IL. For Washington, James Wood and Drew Millas were on the 10 Day IL, Connelly Early was on the 15 Day IL, and Josiah Gray, DJ Herz, Ken Waldichuk, Richard Lovelady, Mitchell Parker and PJ Poulin were all on the 60 Day IL, with CJ Abrams listed day-to-day with an ankle injury.
That left Friday’s opener as more than a simple matchup between third and fourth place in the NL East. It was a test of how much each side could get from the players still available, and whether the Marlins could make Gusto’s night the kind of start that fit a team trying to stay above.500.
