The Washington Nationals finished with just three hits as two prospects, including Eli Willits, took the field on Saturday.
While The offense fell flat once again as Washington Nationals suffered a second straight loss on Saturday afternoon, falling to the Miami Marlins, 4-1.
This marks the second loss to Miami through four meetings this spring as the Nationals finished with just four hits in the loss.
But one day after new Nationals pitcher Zack Littell made his debut with the team, Washington trotted out one of its best prospects to pitch in the open day in the rotation.
In his first appearance in spring training, Alex Clemmey tossed a pair of strikeouts and tossed one walk while not giving up a hit in three innings. The two runs that the Marlins tallied with Clemmey on the mound were attributed to three errors, marking a clean outing for the Nationals' 11th-ranked prospect in the farm system, per MLB.com.
Those two runs came in the third inning after the first error got a runner on first base with two outs. Clemmey's lone walk of the day put runners on second and third before an error by Harry Ford opened the scoring, then an error by Eli Willits in the next at bat brought in the game's second run.
After the Nationals went down in order in the bottom of the third inning, Miami capitalized on the chance to extend their lead after the first batter singled to right field before a home run extended the deficit to 4-0 with Andre Granillo on the mound.
The Nationals lone run would come in the bottom of the fifth inning after Jose Tena reached first base on an infield single, then Harry Ford drew a walk to get a runner in scoring position. None other than Brady House would clean up thanks to a double into right field for the run, making it 4-1, before an Andres Chaparro strikeout ended the inning.
Saturday also marked the second appearance in spring training for Eli Willits, the top overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, as he walked in his lone at bat.
Now sitting 11-6-3 overall in spring training, the Nationals will return to action on Sunday afternoon to take on the St. Louis Cardinals. It marks the fourth meeting between the two teams so far this spring with the Nationals outscoring the Cardinals, 15-4, to take all three meetings. The Cardinals sit 11-8-1 overall with a Saturday afternoon matchup also against the Miami Marlins.