WASHINGTON (AP) — Rookie Agustín Ramírez hit two home runs and Eric Wagaman had three RBIs to help the Miami Marlins hand the Washington Nationals their sixth straight loss, 11-9 on Friday night in a game that included a rain delay of more than two hours.
Ramírez hit a solo shot off Nationals starter Mitchell Parker (4-7) in the first for a 1-0 lead and then hit his 10th of the season leading off a four-run third as Miami took a 6-0 lead.
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Washington Nationals' James Wood, center, rounds he bases on his two-run home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Friday, June 13, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Washington Nationals' Josh Bell, left, is safe at home scoring on a single by Keibert Ruiz during the seventh inning of a baseball game against Miami Marlins catcher Nick Fortes, right, Friday, June 13, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Miami Marlins' Otto Lopez (6) and Kyle Stowers, right, celebrate after a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, early Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Miami Marlins' Agustin Ramirez follows through on his single during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Friday, June 13, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Miami Marlins' Agustin Ramirez celebrates his home run as he rounds the bases during the first inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Friday, June 13, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
It was Ramírez's second multihomer game after hitting two solo shots in a 7-6 loss to Seattle on April 27. Wagaman had an RBI double and Dane Myers added a two-run double as Miami built the six-run advantage.
CJ Abrams reached on an infield hit and James Wood followed with his 17th homer to get the Nationals within 6-2 after three.
Fortes and Xavier Edwards had RBI singles in the fifth following a delay of 2 hours, 14 minutes for an 8-2 lead.
Wood hit a two-run double and Nathaniel Lowe, Alex Call and Keibert Ruiz followed with RBI singles as Washington scored five times in the seventh to pull within 8-7.
Miami answered with Wagaman’s two-run single and Connor Norby’s RBI groundout in the eighth.
Edwin Cabrera allowed two runs in a three-inning start for Miami. Tyler Phillips (1-0) got two outs for the win.
Parker allowed six runs and eight hits in 3 1/3 innings. Jackson Rutledge got the final two outs in the fourth before the second delay and then allowed two runs. Jose A. Ferrer was tagged for three runs on four hits in an inning.
Miami has won three of four against Washington this season.
Calvin Faucher allowed a one-out single before getting groundouts from Robert Hassell III and Abrams to finish off his sixth save in nine opportunities.
Miami's minus-91 run differential is the second worst in the NL followed by Washington at minus-60.
Miami had not announced who will start Saturday's game opposite Washington RHP Trevor Williams (3-7, 5.91).
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Washington Nationals' James Wood, center, rounds he bases on his two-run home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Friday, June 13, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Washington Nationals' Josh Bell, left, is safe at home scoring on a single by Keibert Ruiz during the seventh inning of a baseball game against Miami Marlins catcher Nick Fortes, right, Friday, June 13, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Miami Marlins' Otto Lopez (6) and Kyle Stowers, right, celebrate after a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, early Saturday, June 14, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Miami Marlins' Agustin Ramirez follows through on his single during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Friday, June 13, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Miami Marlins' Agustin Ramirez celebrates his home run as he rounds the bases during the first inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Friday, June 13, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.
In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.
Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.
“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.
If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.
For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.
“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.
Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.
"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.
Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.
Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.
Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.
The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.
“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.
As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.
What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.
The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.
One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.
Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.
“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.
The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.
Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.
“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.
Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.
“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
