All of us who pine for the days when baseball games routinely breezed by in a couple of hours should have bought tickets for Monday's July 4 matinee at Nationals Park.
Combine an 11 a.m. holiday start with a getaway day at the end of a four-game set, and the Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals become a couple of teams who are more than anxious to wrap things up.
With pitchers finding the zone, batters swinging early and often, runners freely trying for extra bases, and the Nationals’ bullpen offering a repeat performance from Sunday’s loss, the Marlins beat the Nats 3-2 in a 10-inning game that took just two hours and 53 minutes of everyone’s time.