Jon Lester, after surgery this spring, and a trip to the COVID-IL before Opening Day, finally made his 2021 debut tonight, tossing 5.0 scoreless on 70 pitches in his first outing for the Washington Nationals, with whom he signed a 1-year/$5M free agent deal this winter.
Lester kept the Miami Marlins off the board through five innings, but Fish righty Pablo López was sharp and efficient as well, matching the Nationals’ starter through five, and hanging on a bit longer, with seven scoreless overall on 79 pitches in an impressive outing.
This one was decided in extras with the Fish pushing a free runner across to ruin a perfectly good 0-0 game, 1-0 Marlins after nine and a half, before Kyle Schwarber hit a walk-off blast for a 2-1 Nats’ win.