WASHINGTON —als close out their home schedule with a three-game series against the Miami Marlins beginning Monday night.After dropping three of four to the fourth-place New York Mets over the weekend Jason Kipnis Jersey , third-place Washington (77-77) needs to go 4-2 this weekend to cap a seventh straight winning season.Miami right-hander Sandy Alcantara (2-1, 2.35) and right-hander Stephen Strasburg (9-7, 3.83) square off in a rematch of a Sept. 18 pairing won by Strasburg and Washington, 4-2. Strasburg allowed two runs on five hits over six innings, while striking out 11 and walking two.Article continues below ...Over his last five starts, Strasburg is 3-0 with a 2.64 ERA and 38 strikeouts.“He’s been really good,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez told The Washington Post. “He’s pitching now. He’s mixing all of his pitches in and attacking the strike zone.”Strasburg is 17-7 with a 3.04 ERA in 30 career starts against Miami.Alcantara lasted just four innings against Washington, allowing three earned runs on six hits and six walks in absorbing his first loss of the season.“When we talk about young guys, this is what we see,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “We see good and then we see some ones that are not as good. Today, the command didn’t seem to be there. A lot of misses http://www.indiansfanproshop.com/authentic-b.j.-upton-jersey , counts get bad and a lot of pitches in a short period of time.“It’s something he’ll be able to learn from and you’ve got to continue to work and be consistent with what you do and that’s what separates the guys who are going to be really good and the guys who are going to be OK.”Miami finished the home portion of its schedule with a 6-0 win over the Reds Sunday, taking three of four in the weekend series. At 62-93 with one game unlikely to be made up, the Marlins should avoid 100 losses but also won’t approach their 77 wins of a year ago.“No matter what, we knew what we were kind of embarking on this year, with a lot of the changes,” Mattingly told mlb.com. “The new direction of the club, under the new ownership. You understand all that. Still, the losses add up, and those are hard to deal with.“But I’ve been proud of the guys. I’ve felt they’ve continued to play hard and continued to give you the effort, and that’s not easy to do when you’re taking that many losses on the chin.”Washington is also playing out the string after being eliminated from postseason contention on Saturday. They lost 8-6 to the Mets in Sunday’s finale.Twenty-five-year-old rookie Erick Fedde, the team’s first-round pick in the 2014 draft Larry Doby Jersey , is among those bidding for a 2019 starting rotation spot. Against the Mets Sunday, he lasted only 3 1/3 innings, giving up three runs in a no-decision.In nine starts this season, Fedde has yet to go beyond six innings.“There are times when I’m like: ‘I can pitch at this level, I can be successful and I think I can dominate,'” he told MASN.com. “And then there are times that are like: ‘What are you doing out there?’ But I think that comes with the learning curve, and I just need to make sure that isn’t a very long learning curve.” Some ordinarily good fielders made some bad plays."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Chicago Cubs recapsChicago Cubs minor leaguesChicago Cubs essaysChicago Cubs game threadsWrigley Field renovationsFull archiveLibrary Bleed Cubbie Blue Community GuidelinesCurrent time in ChicagoBCB Specials & Site InfoWinter 2019 music threadsCubs StoriesScheduleRosterStatsYahoo Cubs newsYahoo Cubs team pageYahoo Cubs reportYahoo Cubs depth chartYahoo Cubs transactionsYahoo Cubs photosOdds Shop About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub 鉁旵hicago Cubs recapsChicago Cubs spring trainingAngels 9, Cubs 2: A Little League home runNew,59commentsSome ordinarily good fielders made some bad plays.CSTShareTweetShareShareAngels 9, Cubs 2: A Little League home runRick Scuteri-USA TODAY SportsThe Cubs started off this afternoon at Tempe Diablo Stadium well, taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning.That was largely because of what is probably the worst defensive play [VIDEO] you will ever see Mike Trout make.Your browser does not support HTML5 video.Willson Contreras hit that ball a long way after Kris Bryant had reached base on a hit by pitch. And Trout... well Bob Feller Jersey , he looked like he was trying out to punt for the Rams. The ball went all the way from center field to right and Willson circled the bases for a 2-0 lead. He was given a double and Trout was charged with a two-base error. Not that errors are any real measure of defensive prowess, but that’s one more error than Trout made in the entire 2018 regular season.The “Little League home run” headline is because those kinds of plays are viewed as similar to a kids’ game where young fielders might kick a baseball around like that.That was about the only thing that went right for the Cubs Tuesday afternoon as the Angels teed off in the middle innings off miscellaneous Cubs relievers and crushed the Cubs 9-2.Kyle Hendricks, who pitched reasonably well in this one, also made an error, on a missed pickoff in the first inning. That didn’t lead to any runs, but Hendricks departed in the third after issuing a walk and allowing a single. I’m pretty sure Joe Maddon would have liked to have him complete the third inning, but he likely reached a pitch count.Hendricks was replaced by Mario Meza, who was on today’s travel roster from the minor-league camp. Meza is 28 and has pitched six years in the Mexican League. Meza, who bears a passing physical resemblance to Jake Arrieta, didn’t pitch like Jake. His first pitch was launched onto the berm by Trout for a three-run homer. It’s worth watching [VIDEO] just to remind yourself how good Trout is.Your browser does not support HTML5 video.Carl Edwards Jr., in his second outing of the spring http://www.indiansfanproshop.com/authentic-b.j.-upton-jersey , threw a scoreless fourth (though allowed two hits), and then the Angels teed off on Rowan Wick in the fifth, putting across five runs (four earned) and the rout was on.We got to see top Cubs prospect Nico Hoerner in his first big-league spring game. He pinch-ran for Addison Russell and remained in the game at shortstop, and grounded out in his only at-bat. Russell, incidentally, had two hits on the afternoon and is a small-sample-size 5-for-11 so far this spring.Funny quote from Hendricks:You can see him saying that completely deadpan, right? Without cracking a smile? I’m looking for Hendricks to have a really big year.Wednesday, the Cubs return to Sloan Park to face the Royals. Jose Quintana will start for the Cubs and Heath Fillmyer will go for Kansas City. Game time is 2:05 p.m. CT. No TV Wednesday; there will be an audio webcast via cubs.com.