López's ERA to 0.39; Marlins edge Nats 2-1 for 4 wins in row

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pablo López lowered his majors-best ERA to 0.39 by throwing six shutout innings, Jesús Aguilar homered, and the Miami Marlins moved above .500 for the first time in 2022 by edging the slumping Washington Nationals 2-1 on Wednesday night.

Mixing a four-seam fastball, cutter and changeup before an announced crowd of 13,356, López (3-0) baffled an already-in-trouble Nationals offense, which has managed to score a grand total of 14 runs during a losing streak that grew to seven games.

López came in with a 0.52 ERA and gave up just three hits. He struck out six and walked one.

López has allowed only a single run across 23 1/3 innings over four starts this season — and his past three appearances were all scoreless.

Nationals manager Dave Martinez tinkered with his lineup, swapping Josh Bell and Nelson Cruz — moving Bell up one spot to No. 3, behind Juan Soto, with Cruz sliding one place to cleanup. That trio went 0 for 9 with three walks; on defense, right fielder Soto and first baseman Bell each was charged with an error.

Martinez also inserted rookie shortstop Lucius Fox — who left Sunday’s game after throwing up on the field in the first inning — in place of the .123-batting Alcides Escobar.

With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, César Hernández reached on an error by first baseman Aguilar, bringing up lefty batter Soto. Miami countered with left-hander Tanner Scott, who got Soto to pop up, but second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. failed to make the catch and was charged with an error. That put runners at the corners for Bell, who walked. Scott also walked Cruz, forcing in an unearned run for the Nationals to make it 2-1.

With the bases still loaded, Anthony Bender got out of the inning when Yadiel Hernandez flew out to the warning track. Bender stayed...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/L-pez-s-ERA-to-0-39-Marlins-edge-Nats-2-1-for-4-17132312.php