MIAMI -- MacKenzie Gore returned from a short stay on the injured list prior to Thursday night’s game and dealt five innings of two-run ball. That was the good news.
Unfortunately for Gore and the Nationals, those were the only runs the Marlins needed.
Miami scored twice in the first off Gore and went on to hand Washington a 5-0 defeat at loanDepot park as the clubs split the four-game set.
The Nationals had won five straight games against the Marlins this season before dropping the final two games in Miami. Washington went 4-3 on the seven-game road trip after starting it with a series win at Wrigley Field.
“We just didn’t hit today,” said Washington interim manager Miguel Cairo, whose team has been held scoreless 12 times this season.
“We had a good road trip, the guys are playing hard. They keep fighting. It was a good road trip.”
Gore, who had been on the IL since Aug. 30 (retroactive to Aug. 27) with left shoulder inflammation, started off by giving up an infield single to leadoff hitter Xavier Edwards.
With one out and runners on the corners, Heriberto Hernández drove a pitch to deep left to score Edwards on a sacrifice fly, giving Miami a 1-0 lead. Eric Wagaman’s two-out single plated Jakob Marsee from second.
After that?
Gore faced just three over the minimum as he cruised through the fifth inning at just 78 pitches (50 strikes).
“I think there was a little rust early, but I felt we got better as the game went on,” said Gore, who gave up four hits and struck out four.
“Physically, I felt good. … I just haven’t done that in a few weeks. It’s much different than [a bullpen session] on the side in between [starts]. But that was expected. We figured we would be dialed in right away. I thought we were fine.”
Miami manager Clayton McCullough indicated that his team came out aggressive on purpose, attempting to take control of the game early.
“MacKenzie Gore is a really good pitcher. I've seen him a lot,” McCullough said. “It's a tough night when you go against MacKenzie, and sometimes the first inning against a starter can be the opportunity. I think we came out and ran some good at-bats there early and were able to get an early lead.”
Cairo, who mentioned pregame that Gore would be working on a pitch count -- and later confirming a five-inning limit -- was impressed with the Nationals’ ace.
“It was good, [Gore] looked healthy and he threw pretty good,” Cairo said. “He had a few days off. That first inning, [Miami] was ready to swing. After that, he made adjustments and pitched well. It was awesome to see him get stronger and stronger with confidence.”
Miami countered with lefty Ryan Weathers, who was also coming off the IL, but Washington was unable to get much going offensively.
Weathers struck out four through the first three innings, including getting Riley Adams to swing through a fastball at the top of the zone with runners on the corners in the third.
“[Weathers] was pretty nasty,” Cairo said.
Daylen Lyle and Andrés Chaparro both singled to open the fourth inning, but a double play followed by Paul DeJong’s groundout with Lyle at third ended the threat.
The Nationals did not put a runner in scoring position after that.
Miami’s bullpen allowed only two hits and walked none over four scoreless frames to close it out. The Nationals were 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position and stranded all six runners they put on base.
“They made good pitches,” said CJ Abrams, who opened the game with a single and stole his 30th base of the season.
“That was reflected in the no-run score. We’re just going to try and score some runs tomorrow."