Florida @ Washington preview
Nationals Park
Last Meeting ( May 7, 2010 ) Florida 4, Washington 2
The Florida Marlins are hoping that Jorge Cantu truly is breaking out of his slump.
Cantu showed positive signs on Friday with a crucial homer and sacrifice fly in the Marlins' 4-2 victory over the Washington Nationals. Florida would like to see Cantu continue his good fortune when the teams meet again Saturday afternoon.
Cantu ended an 0-for-19 skid with a game-tying home run off Washington starter Craig Stammen in the seventh. In his next at-bat, Cantu gave Florida an insurance run with a sacrifice fly.
Despite the slump, Cantu remains one of the most productive hitters in baseball. His two RBIs on Friday gave him 27 for the season – second in the National League and third in the majors. He’s also got seven homers with a .284 average.
Cantu has been hot throughout the first five weeks of the season. He recorded hits in the first 17 games and became the first player in baseball history to get at least one hit and one RBI in his team’s first 10 games.
That’s a big reason why Cantu is averaging about one RBI per game. Now, finishing the season with around 162 RBIs might be a tall task, but Cantu’s ability to hit in the clutch has been a big spark to a Florida offense that’s been inconsistent at times.
Only four other Marlins have at least 10 RBIs, so they need Cantu to stay hot until some other batters can come through more in the clutch.
Washington faces a similar situation because third baseman Ryan Zimmerman got off to a fast start and hasn’t slowed down. But the Nationals need more players to give Zimmerman support.
Zimmerman homered and went 2-for-4 in Friday’s game. He’s now hitting .343 with five homers and 15 RBIs in just 21 games – he’s been out for two stretches with hamstring problems.
First baseman Adam Dunn got off to a very slow start and, although he’s doing better lately, the clean-up hitter struck out twice Friday. Dunn’s been inconsistent throughout the first five weeks.
Ivan Rodriguez is hitting .383, but no other Nationals player is batting over .300.
Washington needs more production from the bottom half of its batting order. If the Nationals don’t get that, they’ll have to hope that Zimmerman and the top part come through on a very regular basis.
Consistent pitching has been the big reason for Washington’s surprising start. But if Cantu gets hot again this weekend, it will make life tough for the Nationals’ pitching staff.