Marlins pull Matt out from under Nats in 9-3 loss

There is one word to sum up the Nats performance last night in Florida: "sloppy".

On Nats Xtra, Ray Knight summed it up in two words: "brutal execution".

Starter Matt Chico walked seven men, including the pitcher twice, and threw an outrageously high 112 pitches in 4 2/3 innings. One of those pitches was so wild, it wound up in the stands.

The Marlins weren't much better, but they didn't need to be, all they had to do was feed upon the Nats pitchers, which they did, going yard a few times. They got out of their losing streak, but they definitely had help.

I was worried that, after going 14 innings the night before, that the entire team would be gassed. Certainly the bullpen was, and they needed Chico to try and last 6 or 7 innings to give them a break and some breathing room. He didn't, and it cost them.

Time to forget about this one and hope for better things on Sunday.

Ryan Report: Some good news here. Church and Zimmerman each went 2 for 4.