If it hadn’t been clear over the last three years, there has definitely been a changing of the guard in the baseball of the National League East from the Miami Marlins to the Washington Nationals.
Following a sweep in Washington earlier this season, the Marlins took yet another three-game sweep against the Nationals in a relatively convincing fashion this week. It was almost a third sweep had the Nats not held on in extra innings in the previous series in Miami.
Even when the Nationals finally got through nine scoreless innings from their pitching staff, they ran into Sandy Alcantara, who might just be the best starter in the NL right now, before losing in extra innings.