Good Morning; here are your Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball headlines for Tuesday, September 14, 2021.

Upcoming Schedule:

  • Tuesday, September 14, 2021: Miami Marlins vs. Washington Nationals; 7:05 pm EDT
  • Wednesday, September 15, 2021: Miami Marlins vs. Washington Nationals; 1:05 pm EDT
  • Friday, September 17, 2021: Colorado Rockies vs. Washington Nationals; 7:05 pm EDT
  • Saturday, September 18, 2021: Colorado Rockies vs. Washington Nationals; 4:05 pm EDT
  • Sunday, September 19, 2021: Colorado Rockies vs. Washington Nationals; 1:05 pm EDT

Until the bottom of the seventh inning in last night's game, the Nationals could not get any hits against Miami Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara.

Entering last night's game, the Nationals have never gotten no-hit against since moving to Washington D.C, and up until the bottom of seventh, that streak was looking to be broken. It wasn't until Josh Bell ended Sandy Alcantara's no-hit bid with a deep single into right field in the seventh Inning that not only ended the no-hitter, Bell's hit almost tied the game.

Here are some interesting facts about the Nationals and No-Hitters:

  • According to Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports, the Washington Nationals' closest no-hit call remains Michael Wacha coming within one out on September 24, 2013, with Ryan Zimmerman legging out an infield single to prevent the no-hitter.
  • According to Dave Jageler, the Nationals have now played 2,632 regular-season games in their history without being n-hit. Phew… that's a streak that I am glad that we didn't break last night.

On the other side of the ball, the Nationals pitching staff led by Espino, who might have turned in his strongest start of the year by only allowing six hits and one first-inning run over six innings. He also struck out six and issued only three walks. In his post-game press conference, Nationals manager Davey Martinez talked about Espino's effort last night," "He was really good," Nationals told reporters afterward. "This is the hardest I've seen him throw. He was 99-100 [mph], slider 93-94, and he was hitting his spots, he was really good, our guys were battling to put a ball in play."

In his post-game press conference, Espino talked about how a conversation with rookie catcher Keibert Ruiz helped him after allowing an RBI single from Jesús Sánchez's RBI single, scoring Jazz Chisholm Jr, "We went inside in the dugout and we talked a little more strategic, like what kind of pitches I wanted to get right away," Espino said. "From that second inning on I think Keibert and I, we were pretty much in sync a little quicker and we had a lot better pace throughout the game after that first inning."

The Marlins added a pair of runs in the ninth against Patrick Murphy on an Alex Jackson double that scored Lewis Brinson and Diaz. Ryan Zimmerman, pinch-hitting, in the ninth, got the Nationals second hit of the night but was erased when Lane Thomas grounded into a slick, 5-4-3 double play, and Escobar grounded too short to end the game.

Last night Juan Soto went 0 for 3 dipping his average to .309 and last night was the first time since June 11 that the Nationals have been shut out. Hopefully, that changes tonight.

Unfortunately, the Nationals are still at the bottom of the NL East with a record of 59-85; they are 4-6 over the past ten games. The Nationals will face the Marlins tonight starting at 7:05 pm EDT. Tonight Erick Fedde takes the mound against the Marlins. Fedde has a 0.98 ERA with only three earned runs over 27.1 innings pitched against the Marlins. Fedde has given up 11 walks, and 30 strikeouts in his five career starts against the Marlins dating back to September 17, 2018.

Roster News: Yesterday, the Nationals returned Jordy Mercer from his rehab assignment, reinstated him from the 10-Day Injured List, and designated Adrian Sanchez for assignment. Steven Fuentes was returned from a rehab assignment, reinstated from the 60-Day Injured List, and optioned to Triple-A Rochester.

Soto Shuffle? Juan Soto’s famous batter’s box shuffle isn’t just a simple gimmick. The folks at the Ringer.com share a complete breakdown of the Soto Shuffle. Hopefully, this will cheer you up a bit!

Some good news? Since August 15, the Washington Nationals offense has led the National League with 5.08 runs per game while ranking second among NL clubs with 132 runs scored. The Nationals also rank among National League clubs in OPS (1st, .801), batting average (1st, .262), walks (1st, 116), on-base percentage (1st, .355), slugging percentage (3rd, .446), and extra-base hits (3rd, 88).

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