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Marlins Hope To Shut Down High-Flying Nats In Matinee Rubber Match

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MIAMI (CBSMiami/Gracenote) – The runs have been coming fast and furious in Miami this week.

Bryce Harper has been making his presence known early in the first two contests of the Washington Nationals' three-game series versus the host Miami Marlins.

After igniting the scoring with a two-run homer in the opener and following suit with a two-run single the following day, Harper looks to extend his career-high hitting streak to 14 games on Wednesday afternoon in the series finale at Marlins Park.

Harper has collected three homers, 10 RBIs and as many runs scored during his hit streak heading into an encounter versus starter Dan Straily, against whom he is just 1-for-6 in his career.

While Washington's 12-3 victory on Tuesday was its fourth in six outings, Miami has answered a modest three-game winning streak by dropping three of its last four overall and three of five versus the Nationals this season.

Marlins outfielder Marcell Ozuna homered for the second time in three games to improve to 5-for-11 with five RBIs and four runs scored in that stretch.

The 26-year-old Dominican is 8-for-21 with six RBIs versus Washington this season and 5-for-19 with two homers in his career against Wednesday starter Max Scherzer.

TV: 12:10 p.m. ET, MASN (Washington)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Nationals RH Max Scherzer (8-4, 2.26 ERA) vs. Marlins RH Dan Straily (5-4, 3.58)

Scherzer improved to 4-1 with a 1.13 ERA in his last five outings on Friday after allowing one run on four hits in eight innings of a 7-2 rout against the New York Mets.

The 32-year-old fanned 10 for the second straight outing and has recorded double-digit strikeouts in each of his last five.

Scherzer, who owns a 6-1 mark with a 1.84 ERA on the road, is 4-1 with a 2.60 ERA in his career at Marlins Park.

Straily also has been on a tear of late, improving to 4-1 in his last six outings after scattering four hits and striking out eight in 6 1/3 innings of a 5-0 victory over Atlanta on Friday.

The 28-year-old wasn't as fortunate in his last turn versus Washington, permitting five runs on six hits in 3 1/3 innings of a 6-4 setback on April 5.

Straily has gotten the better of Daniel Murphy (1-for-11), although Matt Wieters is 5-for-6 with two homers and four RBIs in his career versus the right-hander.

WALK-OFFS

  1. Murphy is 15-for-36 with two homers, eight RBIs and nine runs scored in his last nine games.
  2. Miami C J.T. Realmuto is 10-for-20 with two homers, five RBIs and as many runs scored versus Washington this season.
  3. Nationals 3B Stephen Drew is 5-for-8 with four RBIs in this series while playing in place of 3B Anthony Rendon (neck).

(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Gracenote contributed to this report.)

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