The hometown fans left the park happy today, as the Nats doubled up the Marlins, 4-2 in Viera while the Braves followed the Disney fun mandate with a 5-2 triumph in Orlando.
At Space Coast, the Nats scored all four in the 3rd inning as Wilson Ramos plated two with a one-out single, then Dan Uggla homered to erase an early 1-0 deficit. Jordan Zimmermann went five innings total in his fourth spring start, scattering eight hits while walking none and fanning four.
The Marlins got their final run in the 9th off Rafael Martin, who issued a one-out walk and gave up a two-out double, but was credited with the save.
At Champion Stadium, a 2-0 lead vanished when journeyman reliever Evan Meek allowed the first five runners to reach base in the 4th and three of them came around to score. Taylor Jordan got the start and allowed just a hit and a walk over three innings.
Michael Taylor got the start in CF for the visiting Nats and went 2-for-3 with a run scored.
Here’s a rundown of how the notable minor-leaguers fared in Viera:
- Kevin Keyes subbed for Bryce Harper in RF and was 0-for-1 with a strikeout.
- Shawn Pleffner followed Ryan Zimmerman at 1B and struck out in his lone at-bat.
- Chris Bostick took over at 2B from Uggla and singled in the 8th inning.
- John Wooten subbed for Danny Espinosa at 3B and was 0-for-1.
- Cutter Dykstra grounded out to first as a pinch-hitter.
And in Orlando:
- Rafael Bautista followed Taylor in CF and went 0-for-1 with a whiff.
- Matt Skole was 0-for-1 in relief of Mike Carp at 1B.
- Tony Renda went 0-for-1 as the sub for 2B Kevin Frandsen.
- Sandy Leon was 0-for-1 as the replacement for C Jose Lobaton.
- Drew Vettleson drew a walk as the second RF, following Clint Robinson.
The Nats make their second trip to Lakeland to visit the Tigers, with A.J. Cole getting the start in place of Stephen Strasburg. The game can be heard locally on 1580AM.
# # #
In the latest transaction report from Baseball America, we learned that RHPs Richie Mirowski and Melvi Salazar joined Jeff Kobernus on the list of released players over the past few days. Mirowski was a 45th Rd. pick in 2011 and came into the 2014 season with much promise after a strong AFL campaign in the fall of 2013, but struggled in his second go ’round in AA, posting a 6.23 ERA in 10 appearances before dropping down to Potomac. Salazar, who turned 20 in December, hit the wall in the GCL with 25 baserunners allowed in 15⅓ innings. In 2013, he had been 4-0 with 13 saves and a 0.98 ERA in his second DSL season.