Left-hander starter Jesús Luzardo woke up Sunday morning with a sore back but still gutted through five innings in the Marlins’ 3-1 loss to the Nationals.
Luzardo’s fastball velocity dropped as he fought through the back stiffness, down from his usual 96 mph to 89-92 mph.
The 26-year-old battled to 77 pitches, allowing a pair of solo homers, walking three and striking out two.
“He woke up with a stiff back this morning,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “So, we talked about it early in the day and still felt like he could go. Shows you who Jesús is, to grind through five innings, hot day with a stiff back. Still got a lot of outs and two runs against a good team. He didn’t play enough for us to win but he just woke up with a little stiff back.”
The Nationals waited on Luzardo’s four-seam fastball to collect a pair of solo shots by Lane Thomas and Jacob Young, the velocity down a tick to 93-94 mph. It was Young’s first career major-league homer.
“Just finding different ways of attack,” Luzardo said. “Obviously the fastball wasn’t there, or velo [velocity] for any pitch wasn’t there. Just finding ways to get outs in different manners that I normally don’t do. Maybe leaning in certain pitches in certain ways and getting some double plays that were big for me. The defense helped a lot.”
Jazz Chisholm Jr. went 2 for 4 with an RBI, and Josh Bell ended a 23 at-bat hitless string with a pair of singles.
