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On a run of four victories in five games, the Washington Nationals are set to visit the Miami Marlins on Friday night to start a weekend series.

Washington has won two straight series, taking two of three each from the Arizona Diamondbacks and the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

It has been a welcome development for the Nationals, who started the season 1-6.

“Baseball is a weird sport,” said Nationals left fielder James Wood, who hit three home runs against the Dodgers, including two in a victory on Tuesday. “There are ups and downs.

“I feel like we were in all those games we were losing. I think we knew we were close (to winning). It was just a few plays here and there.”

The Nationals will try to keep the good times rolling on Friday, when left-hander Mitchell Parker (2-0, 0.73 ERA) is set to take the mound.

Parker, a 25-year-old who is in his second major league season, is off to a great start in 2025 — with the exception of his walk rate. His walks per nine innings have risen from 2.6 last year to 4.4 in his two starts.

On the positive side, Parker gets plenty of outs with his wicked breaking stuff, including a curve and a splitter.

In three career starts against Miami, Parker is 1-0 with a 1.10 ERA.

The Marlins are expected to start right-hander Cal Quantrill (0-0, 6.00 ERA), who would be pitching on five days’ rest.

In his most recent start Saturday, he pitched five scoreless innings in a 4-0 win over the host Atlanta Braves.

Quantrill is 0-1 with a 4.24 ERA in three career starts against Washington.

Offensively, Miami is led by first baseman Matt Mervis and catcher Nick Fortes.

Mervis tops the squad in homers (three) and OPS (.899). New to the Marlins this season after two years with the Chicago Cubs, his career OPS is .565 in 45 games.

Fortes is second on the team in OPS (.833). Known more for his defense, Fortes’ career OPS over five seasons is .624.

After losing four of their previous five games, the Marlins are coming off a 5-0 win over the host New York Mets on Wednesday afternoon. That stopped New York’s six-game winning streak.

Like the Nationals, the Marlins are off to a feisty start, including taking three of four games from the Pittsburgh Pirates in their season-opening series.

The Marlins have made some spectacular defensive plays, most notably by their center fielders in the last two games of the Mets series.

On Tuesday in the Mets’ 10-5 victory, the Marlins’ Derek Hill raced back 110 feet to make a diving, back-handed stab to rob Tyrone Taylor of what likely would’ve been a three-run extra-base hit.

“That was one of the best catches I’ve ever seen,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said.

On Wednesday, it was Dane Myers’ turn as he ran back 81 feet to grab a shot by Pete Alonso. After making the catch, Hill ran face-first into the wall.

“Running full speed and total disregard for your body,” McCullough said of Myers’ catch. “That was a great play.”

–Field Level Media