Nationals complete a sweep as the Marlins struggle to score during five-game losing streak

Left-hander starter Jesús Luzardo woke up Sunday morning with a sore back but still gutted through five innings in the Marlins’ 3-1 loss to the Nationals.

Luzardo’s fastball velocity dropped as he fought through the back stiffness, down from his usual 96 mph to 89-92 mph. The 26-year-old battled to 77 pitches, allowing a pair of solo homers, walking three and striking out two.

“He woke up with a stiff back this morning,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “So, we talked about it early in the day and still felt like he could go. Shows you who Jesús is, to grind through five innings, hot day with a stiff back. Still got a lot of outs and two runs against a good team. He didn’t play enough for us to win but he just woke up with a little stiff back.”

The Nationals waited on Luzardo’s four-seam fastball to collect a pair of solo shots by Lane Thomas and Jacob Young, the velocity down a tick to 93-94 mph. It was Young’s first career major-league homer.

“Just finding different ways of attack,” Luzardo said. “Obviously the fastball wasn’t there, or velo [velocity] for any pitch wasn’t there. Just finding ways to get outs in different manners that I normally don’t do. Maybe leaning in certain pitches in certain ways and getting some double plays that were big for me. The defense helped a lot.”

Jazz Chisholm Jr. went 2 for 4 with an RBI, and Josh Bell ended a 23 at-bat hitless string with a pair of singles.

Miami’s offense had difficulty generating more than two-hit rallies against Washington lefty Mitchell Parker (5-3), a theme that has plagued the offense all season, going 3-23 versus left-handers. The veteran Bell sees a different punch from young southpaws.

“Used to be, at least when I was coming up, sinkers down and away, trying to get soft contact,” said Bell. “Now these lefties are coming up, throwing fastballs off the zone. Stuff that generally is right-handed stuff, they are doing it from the left side. We got to make an adjustment. We got to find a way to get those balls in play and not foul them off at the top of the zone. If we can do that, good things are going to happen.”

The Marlins have now been swept six times this season. Another example of how different this season is compared to 2023: The Marlins dominated the Nationals last season, winning 11 of 13. This season, the Marlins are 0-7 versus Washington.

Miami has been outscored 28-8 during their current five-game losing streak and has fallen a season-high 25 games under .500.

Emmanuel Rivera came around to score on a Chisholm grounder toward second base in the fifth inning that Parker could not grab, tying the game, 1-1. The run ended the Marlins 22-inning scoreless streak, dating to the end of the Mets series.

Down two in the eighth and Bell at first, pinch-hitter Dane Myers struck out on a 96-mph fastball by Nationals reliever Robert Garcia. Otto Lopez doubled in the ninth but was left stranded at second when pinch-hitter Vidal Brujan struck out against Nationals closer Kyle Finnegan to end the game.

“Of course, they are not happy when they are getting one run or shut out,” Schumaker said. “This was a tough road trip, no question. It’s not a lack of effort, lack of preparation, just a lack of execution right now, but we will keep going.”

After a promising 14-13 May, the Marlins are 2-11 in June. The biggest question for the Marlins continues to be how to ignite an offense that has tallied more than four runs just once in 13 games.

“I feel like you always got to find the bright spots in moments like this,” Luzardo said. “We are obviously going through a rough stretch. But the offense will click and the pitching just needs to keep doing what we are doing. It’s a long season, 162 games, so at some point it will all click and we will get on a run as well.”