Taylor's leaping catch highlights otherwise sleepy Nats loss

JUPITER, Fla. - On a day when hits were scarce and runs were even scarcer, the most attention-grabbing moment of the Nationals' 3-1 loss to the Marlins came via Michael A. Taylor's legs and outstretched left arm.

Retreating to the center field wall on Derek Dietrich's third-inning drive, Taylor perfectly timed his leap and robbed the Marlins cleanup hitter of a likely home run. The sleepy Roger Dean Stadium crowd of 1,987 oohed and aahed and then applauded as Taylor trotted back to the dugout, receiving high-fives from teammates along the way.

"Did you see Michael's catch?" Ryan Madson, who was on the mound at the time, asked reporters an inning later in the clubhouse. "He makes it look so easy."

Indeed, Taylor went about the play in seemingly casual fashion, making it appear far less demanding than it actually was. Those in uniform appreciate the degree of difficulty, though.

"He's a Gold Glover," manager Davey Martinez said. "He's been working diligently out there. I told him from day one, there's no reason why you shouldn't win the Gold Glove. You're that good. He showed it today. That was awesome."

Taylor's web gem came in a game that otherwise featured sloppy defense from the Nationals. Anthony Rendon was charged with errors (one throwing, one fielding) on back-to-back plays in the bottom of the second. Shortstop Adrian Sanchez committed an error of his own in the bottom of the eighth. Those errors led to all three of Miami's run, none of which were earned.

"Can't get frustrated; you just got to do your job," said Tanner Roark, who was on the mound for Rendon's pair of errors. "Execute pitches, take a deep breath so you can get everything back underneath you. Get your legs back underneath you, and just execute your pitch. I've been in worse jams than that before."

After cruising through a 1-2-3 first inning, Roark slogged his way through the second frame. Rendon's errors didn't help, but Roark hurt his own cause with a double, a walk, a hit batter and a run-scoring wild pitch. He attributed some of his struggles to poor mechanics, saying his front shoulder flew open a few times.

Roark was facing the Marlins for the second time in four days, an odd quirk of scheduling. As they try to arrange their rotation for the regular season - and as they try to avoid sending any of their regulars on long Grapefruit League road trips - the Nationals asked the right-hander to pitch on short rest.

Roark wasn't able to throw a bullpen session between starts, which he said may have contributed to his less-than-perfect mechanics, but he said physically he felt fine and had no problem taking on this assignment.

"I felt good, felt fine, felt normal," he said.

Roark will now return to a typical five-day schedule, same as the rest of the Nationals starters. A.J. Cole is slated to make his spring debut Thursday against the Braves in Lake Buena Vista, with Max Scherzer going Friday against the Mets in Port St. Lucie. Stephen Strasburg then is likely to make his first start of the spring Saturday against the Astros in West Palm Beach.

For Roark, there's one simple goal for the remaining four weeks of camp: prepare for the regular season. His job is secure. He doesn't have to beat out anybody else or prove anything to the club's decision makers.

"I believe he's going to be really good this year," Martinez said. "His ball is coming out real good. His breaking ball's good. His changeup is good. We'll just build him up in the next few weeks and then we'll see where we're at."