While perhaps misused on defense, there’s no denying the offense of Danny Espinosa, who reached base four times and drove in four runs in an 8-4 romp of the Nats over the Marlins this afternoon in Jupiter.
The 23-year-old singled, doubled, and smacked a two-run HR to raise his spring batting average to .455 and his RBI total to 10, while also turning a double play. He also scored two runs.
Prospects Bryce Harper and Chris Marrero each came off the bench to stroke RBI singles, the fourth and second of the spring respectively, while Steve Lombardozzi popped out in his lone at-bat, the second of the spring. Marrero handled all four defensive chances, while Lombardozzi had none.
Pitchers Ryan Mattheus, Josh Wilkie and Brad Peacock were in the bullpen, but none of them saw game action. Jason Marquis was the starter and threw four scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and one walk while striking out three.
With the win, the Nationals improve to 7-3 for the spring. The squads split tomorrow, with one team returning to Viera to host a split-squad Mets team in the other and another travelling to Kissimmee to visit Houston tomorrow night. There is no radio or TV for the Mets game, while the Astros game will be broadcast by the Houston affiliate KBME and can be accessed via MLB Gameday or XM Radio.