Marlins' bats get going up and down lineup in win

WASHINGTON -- Up and down the lineup, the Marlins found holes in the Nationals’ defense to ring up 10 hits off starter Josiah Gray and cruise to a 6-3 series-opening victory Friday night at Nationals Park.

Miami finished with 12 base knocks, including three doubles and a homer.

Joey Wendle, Garrett Cooper, Brian Anderson and Miguel Rojas all delivered two or more hits each to lead the offense. The six runs were the Marlins' most since their 7-4 win over Colorado on June 22 -- a span of eight games.

Cooper went 3-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI, and Anderson’s first home run since May 14 ignited Miami’s offense in a three-run third. He donned the Marlins’ football helmet during the dugout celebration.

"It felt great. Getting to see the other guys do it, I was starting to get a little jealous,” Anderson said. “That was a cool way to get us going today. Looking forward to wearing it a couple more times, hopefully in this season.”

Anderson's home run was his third on the season.

"Off the bat it felt good. But you never know, especially this year, you never know if the ball is going to go out. Just got to put my head down and run. I was able to get a good fastball over the plate. I was able to handle it. I think I have hit [Gray’s] fastball pretty good in the past, too. Just trusting my swing and trusting my approach right there and I was able to get a good barrel on it."

Jon Berti reached base three times, stole two bases, had two RBIs and scored a run. He now has an MLB-leading 24 stolen bases on the season. Twenty of those stolen bases have come since June 1.

It was especially nice for the Marlins to see Anderson and Wendle deliver. Both recently returned from missing 28 games due to injury. Anderson (lower back) returned Monday and Wendle (right hamstring strain) Friday night.

"It was good obviously to get them back,” said manager Don Mattingly. “You see what Joey does and [what] Brian can do. Joey is kind of all over the field. Andy's kind of solid in everything he does. Also with Berti out in the outfield, too, those three guys, that little combo was nice tonight."

Rojas left the game late after he almost ran into Wendle during Luis García’s infield single in the seventh. Rojas said after the game he would be good to go for Saturday’s game two.

"He kind of banged into Joey on a play,” Mattingly said. “He had a little reaction. And then it felt almost like a little stinger. Just seemed like we should get him out of there and make sure he is OK for tomorrow, hopefully."

Wendle returned to the lineup at second base, going 2-for-4 with two singles, an RBI and a run scored.

For Wendle it was a big night to get back to full health after missing a month of games. His availability has become even more important with infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. (lower back) and outfielder Jorge Soler (pelvis inflammation) placed on the 10-day IL.

“It's really good to be back and slide in at second where Jazz has been playing almost every day,” Wendle said during pregame. “It's hard to replace a Jazz in your lineup, but hopefully I can go in there and provide good defense, quality at-bats and we will weather the storm."

• Marlins Injuries & Moves

The Marlins chased Gray in the sixth with four straight singles, scoring two runs to push their lead to 6-1. In their last matchup June 8 in Miami, Gray shut out the Marlins over five frames. This time the club tagged him for six runs over 5 2/3 innings.

The Marlins have won nine of their 10 games against the Nats this season, the most since going 9-10 versus Washington in 2016. They are 26-39 against everyone else.

Trevor Rogers was solid on the mound again vs. the Nats, allowing one run on two hits over five innings.

The left-hander showed well against the Nats’ marquee hitter Juan Soto, inducing a groundout to second base early and then walking the slugger in an eight-pitch battle in the fourth. Josh Bell had the only two hits for the Nats off of Rogers.

"The biggest thing with Trevor is just keeping him mechanically consistent,” Mattingly said before the game. “He is a big, long-limbed guy that has a little bit of length in his delivery. And just keeping him synced up. When he is synced up, stuff is good. His fastball plays. It plays up. The changeup is a pitch he gets a lot of swings at. The slider is better."

Rogers was consistent in mixing the fastball, changeup and slider. The only hiccup was a pair of walks in the fifth. But the southpaw struck out Lane Thomas to end the threat.

"That was huge,” Rogers said of his third win against the Nats. “I was finally getting those little things to go my way. I was getting ground balls right at guys. Even when they made solid contact, they were right at guys. [I] felt really good. [There were a] couple walks that hurt me kind of [in] that fifth inning. Still a little upset about that, but overall I felt really good [about] where my stuff is, my command and just my outing overall."

Rogers is 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA in 16 innings vs. Washington this season.