Cole steady early on (Marlins win 7-3)

Nationals Right-hander A.J. Cole got off to an outstanding start with strikeouts of Dee Gordon and Giancarlo Stanton. He finished off a 1-2-3 first inning with a groundout off the bat of Christian Yelich.

He hit a batter in the second and endured a fielding error by second baseman Adrián Sanchez in the third, but managed to complete three innings without allowing a run or a hit.

The Nats broke through against Marlins starter Vance Worley in the third.

Brian Goodwin doubled and took third on a nice sacrifice bunt to third by Sanchez.

Bryce Harper's hard hit grounder deep into the second base hole scored Goodwin. The Nats lead 1-0 after three innings.

Update: Derek Dietrich smacked a solo homer off of Cole in the fourth to tie the game at 1-1. It was his seventh homer of the season. Dietrich connected on a two-run shot off of Cole in their first meeting last week in Miami.

Mid-fourth, the Nats and the Marlins are tied 1-1.

Update II: Cole allowed a pair of singles to start the fifth to Miguel Rojas and Dee Gordon. Pitching coach Mike Maddux came out to talk to Cole. Next pitch, however, Giancarlo Stanton slammed a three-run game-altering homer to left-center field. His 38th homer of the year made it 4-1 Marlins.

The Nats have earned five hits off of Worley, but only one run.

Cole finished five innings, allowing four runs on four hits with one walk and striking out five. He allowed two homers, firing a total of 96 pitches, 62 for strikes.

Mid-sixth, the Marlins lead the Nats 4-1.

Update III: The Marlins added to their lead in the seventh. Gordon tallied a ground-rule double with an RBI. Later, Dietrich dropped in a two-run single. The Marlins lead is 7-1.

The Nats grabbed back an RBI single by Sanchez and a lineout to center field sacrifice fly by Harper to score two in the seventh.

After seven innings, the Marlins lead the Nats 7-3.

Update IV: The Nationals did not score in the ninth despite Goodwin's third hit of the night.

Final score: the Marlins 7, the Nationals 3.