Nats fall 7-3 as Worley beats Cole for second time in a week

The second A.J. Cole-Vance Worley matchup in a week didn't go any better for the Nationals than it did the first time.

In a rematch of Wednesday night's blowout loss in Miami, Worley once again handcuffed the Nationals lineup while Cole served up a couple of towering home runs to the Marlins during a 7-3 loss that looked all too familiar.

Worley, the journeyman long reliever/spot starter who dominated the Nationals during seven scoreless innings six days ago at Marlins Park, wasn't quite as sharp in the rematch but he was plenty effective in surrendering only one run in six innings.

The Nationals gave themselves more chance against Worley this time, but they went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position while he was on the mound. Three double plays occurred with Ryan Zimmerman at the plate, though only one in the conventional groundball fashion. Zimmerman struck out swinging at a 3-2 fastball in the bottom of the first, with Adrián Sanchez thrown out trying to steal third. Sanchez also was running from first when Zimmerman lined out to left in the bottom of the seventh and didn't realize what happened until it was too late, getting doubled up.

The Nationals did score two runs in the seventh prior to that final double play, getting three straight hits from Andrew Stevenson, Brian Goodwin and Sanchez, plus a sacrifice fly from Bryce Harper. But that merely trimmed the deficit to four runs and left them still facing an uphill climb the rest of the way.

Six days after he surrendered two homers at Marlins Park in a blowout loss, Cole surrendered two more to the same lineup. The right-hander made it through 3 2/3 innings without allowing a hit, but then Derek Dietrich (who hit one of the homer last week) launched a hanging slider to right field to make this a 1-1 game.

The following inning, the Marlins put two on with one out for Giancarlo Stanton, prompting a mound visit from pitching coach Mike Maddux. Cole's very next pitch - a fastball over the plate - was launched into the picnic table area in deep left-center, Stanton's career-best 38th home run.

Miami added three more runs in the top of the seventh off relievers Sammy Solís and Blanton, with Maddux making two mid-inning pitching changes instead of manager Dusty Baker, who was in the dugout but appeared to be having trouble moving around.

The Nationals are now 5-6 against the Marlins this season, but they still hold a 13-game lead over them in the NL East.