Nationals Bulldoze Marlins 9-2, Expose Eury Pérez Mirage

Well, that was ugly. The Marlins limped into D.C. as heavy -155 favorites behind Eury Pérez's shiny 3.17 ERA, banking on an 8-0 season series stranglehold and the supposed mismatch against Jackson Kent's bloated 8.03 ERA. Instead, Washington flipped the script entirely, steamrolling Miami 9-2 and making our pick look foolish in the process.

Pérez, the ace we leaned on, got shelled. Whatever "massive advantage" we thought he held evaporated the moment the Nationals started teeing off. Kent? He wasn't great, but he didn't need to be—Washington's bats did the heavy lifting, piling on runs early and never looking back. So much for that 4.86 ERA gap mattering when your guy can't locate and their lineup is locked in.

Miami's 8-0 season dominance? Meaningless. The +2.75 run differential per game? Ancient history. The Nationals were supposedly fatigued playing eight in seven days, yet they looked like the fresher team by a mile. Sometimes the numbers lie, and tonight they lied loud. The Marlins' road woes (now 2-5) are very real, and we got caught chasing past results instead of respecting present form. Tough loss. Regroup and move on.