Split-second plays go against the Nats in 4-3 loss at Miami

MIAMI - The Nationals and Marlins went back and forth Monday night, but in the end, Miami delivered the final punch in a 4-3 comeback win.

The game turned on a couple of key plays, a hot shot right at center fielder Trea Turner and a baserunning mistake by Michael A. Taylor.

Trailing 3-2 in the sixth, the Marlins answered with a double from pinch-hitter Derek Dietrich on a ball that was hit well but appeared Turner might have a chance to catch. Turner was unable to make the play on the hot shot and the game-tying run crossed the plate.

"Low and in fastball," Turner said of the scorching double. "I knew he hit it good, but I didn't think he hit as good as he did. Had a little bit of slice on it and just didn't react fast enough and kind of misplayed."

Turner knows he can learn from every play he sees at his new position, but admitted on a ball hit that hard, it may be a difficult play for anyone.

"I think when you get a ball hit at you pretty hard, you have less reaction time as opposed to pop flies," Turner said. "Hopefully it gets easier, but I don't know."

Manager Dusty Baker agreed that a play like that would be difficult for even an experienced center fielder. He spoke to Turner after the play.

"That's a tough play for a veteran center fielder because if you turn the wrong way that ball's hit a ton," Baker said. "Trea felt badly about it but we told him, that's part of the learning process. You just hate to see it happen in a game like this but that's the toughest play there is for an outfielder, the one that's right at you."

Then with men on second and third, the Marlins notched the go-ahead run. Pinch-hitter Ichiro Suzuki's ground ball to second was fielded by Wilmer Difo. The second baseman elected to throw home in an attempt to nab Justin Bour coming home. But the throw was off line and Bour scored to make it 4-3 Marlins.

But the Nationals had another shot to tie or take the lead in the top of the seventh. Ryan Zimmerman and Chris Heisey singled to begin the rally. Danny Espinosa followed with a sacrifice bunt to move the runners up.

With two men in scoring position and one out, reliever Fernando Rodney was able to strike out pinch-hitters Stephen Drew and Clint Robinson.

And in the ninth, the Nationals had one more scoring chance. Wilson Ramos led off the inning with a double off of reliever A.J. Ramos. Wilson Ramos was replaced by Taylor at second base.

Zimmerman grounded a ball to second baseman Dee Gordon, who turned and threw to third baseman Martin Prado to nab Taylor as he headed to third. Pinch-hitters Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy then flew out to end the game.

"Well, I can't speak for what a guy was thinking," Baker said of Taylor's decision to try to get to third base. "That was a mistake, we made a couple mistakes during the game we had opportunities to win that game and take the lead and we didn't get it done."

The Nationals have now lost three in a row, and the theme recently has been inconsistent offense, a problem that has cropped up at times all season long.

The Nats have scored just eight runs in the past three games and were 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position in Monday's series opener.

"We haven't played good baseball, we haven't really swung the bats that well," Baker said. "We've had opportunities but again it's been most of the year we haven't come through sometimes when we need it in the clutch.

"You can tell a guy and preach to a guy but when you're in the box in there, you're in there by yourself. And we hit some balls hard, some balls we didn't and some balls we didn't play correctly on the bases sometimes, its usually a combination of things ... it's not just one thing.

"Sometimes were striking out too much, sometimes were hitting the ball too much on the ground because double plays have been killing us lately so we just got to continue to play and these guys play hard and most of the time we play smart."

Right-hander A.J. Cole allowed two runs early on, the most dramatic being a laser 448-foot homer from Marlins power hitter Giancarlo Stanton.

Cole finished four innings, allowing two runs on four hits with two walks and three strikeouts. He threw 79 pitches, 52 for strikes.

Down 2-0 early, the Nationals came back. Facing left-hander Wei-Yin Chen with two men on, Espinosa crushed his career-high 22nd homer of the season, a three-run blast to give the Nats a 3-2 lead in the fifth.

Espinosa was certainly happy with the home run, but in the end the club came up short. What is the key to make it to the finish line with 12 days left and a sizable lead in the division?

"Just the days," Espinosa said. "It's a grind. Days get long. Guys are getting sore, but it's just one of those things you keep grinding through. We've got what? 12 more games to go. Play the best 12 games you can, and hopefully get on a roll and finish this off strong here so we can ensure some playoffs."

The Braves helped out the Nats' cause Monday. Atlanta toppled the Mets 7-3, moving the magic number to five to clinch the National League East for the first time since 2014.