Six days after facing Justin Nicolino in Washington, the Nationals had a pretty good idea of what to expect on Friday night. So they came out swinging, and behind second-inning home runs from Ryan Zimmerman and Michael Taylor, the Nationals broke out to a four-run lead and never looked back in a 4-1 win over Miami at Marlins Park.

The Nationals’ team plane arrived in Miami after 3 a.m. on Friday after a rare getaway night game in New York, leaving manager Dusty Baker trying to determine how to get the best out of his team despite the quick turnaround and lack of sleep.

Corey Kluber navigated out of some early trouble to turn in a strong start on Friday night, leading the Indians to a 4-2 victory over the Red Sox in the opener of a three-game series at Fenway Park.

Welcome to DraftKings fantasy baseball, the Official Daily Fantasy Game of Major League Baseball. The players listed within this article could provide difference-making stats for DraftKings participants on Saturday.

The Cleveland Indians have won five straight to close the gap on Chicago in the AL Central.

Kevin Kiermaier ended his triples drought at the perfect time on Friday night in the Rays’ 7-5 win over the Tigers at Comerica Park. Kiermaier’s three-bagger came with two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth and gave the Rays a 6-3 lead.

It was an interesting Friday night for Rangers right-hander Colby Lewis, and his scoreless pitching in a 2-1 win over the Astros was the least of it.

Maybe it’s purely coincidental that the Braves have matched their previous home run total since essentially turning Monday’s batting-practice session at PNC Park into a modified home run derby. Or maybe the more aggressive approach taken during this week’s batting-practice sessions has simply helped create some confidence for an offense that needed it, especially in the power department.

There is nothing cheap about the way Jackie Bradley Jr. is extending his hitting streak. He is doing it with authoritative swings against some of the toughest pitchers in baseball.

Over his first 80 starts in the Majors, Gerrit Cole has averaged nearly a strikeout per inning, punching out roughly a quarter of the batters he’s faced. Cole faced 28 Rockies hitters Friday night at PNC Park, and he didn’t strike out any of them.

The Nationals spent the days leading up to right-hander Tanner Roark’s Friday night start trying to answer why the Marlins had hit Roark harder than any other team this season. Their coaching staff and Roark wondered whether he had been tipping his pitches.

Two swings of the bat hurt Aaron Nola on Friday night, and to his displeasure, they both came with two outs and one runner on base.

Gerrit Cole could only watch as left fielder Starling Marte held the Pirates’ 2-1 lead in his hand. In the top of the seventh inning, as Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon singled on a line drive to left field, Dustin Garneau tried to head home from second base. Unfortunately for Garneau, Marte snatched up the ball and his 100.6 mph throw, according to Statcast™, beat Garneau there.

After shaking off a first-inning Chris Carter homer on Friday, Steven Matz retired 15 in a row en route to seven innings of two-run ball. He struck out eight. He walked zero. And he proved that when healthy, for however long he can stay that way, Matz is indeed one of baseball’s brightest young pitchers.

The Rockies couldn’t regret how they countered Pirates ace pitcher Gerrit Cole on Friday night. They had 12 hits and left Cole without a strikeout for the first time in his Major League career.

Needing a victory to shove memories of Matt Harvey and this week’s Nationals series firmly into the past, the Mets turned Friday to two of their budding stars. Steven Matz pitched seven sharp innings to win his sixth consecutive start, and Michael Conforto delivered the decisive two-run homer in a 3-2 triumph over the Brewers at Citi Field.

Throwing seven strong innings, oddly, without a strikeout, right-hander Gerrit Cole worked his way out of trouble and led the Pirates to a 2-1 win over the Rockies on Friday night at PNC Park.<