Washington Nationals knock off Florida Marlins 8-4: MLB Recap
Jayson Werth lit the lamp twice and Ivan Rodriguez went 2-for-3 with three RBI and a run scored, as the Washington Nationals held on for 8-4 victory against Florida Marlins, avoiding a three-game
sweep, at Nationals Park, Washington, D.C. on Sunday.
Jason Marquis (5-1) allowed four runs and two earned on six hits over 6 2/3 innings in the win. He also went 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBI for Washington, which halted a three-game dropping streak.
Roger Bernadina had an RBI and a run scored in the win. He also had two hits.
Mike Stanton hit two doubles, scored once and drove in a run for Florida, which had won three of four games coming in. Javier Vazquez (2-4) gave up six runs on seven hits and two walks over just four
innings in the losing effort.
"Today he couldn't get out of that first inning and I can't explain it," said Florida manager Edwin Rodriguez about Vazquez. "After that he did a good job, but that first inning was a killer for us."
The Nationals sent nine men to the plate in the first inning to notch a 6-0 edge.
With men on first and second, Laynce Nix drove in a run with a single and, after Adam LaRoche walked to load the bases, Ivan Rodriguez singled home two more runs. Jerry Hairston scored another runner
with a groundout and Alex Cora followed with a single.
Marquis then doubled into the corner in left that Logan Morrison had difficulty getting to, but Marquis was tagged out at third attempting to stretch the double into a triple for the final out of
the inning. Marquis pitched 6 2/3 innings, giving away four runs, two unearned and walking one and striking out two.
"It's nice to have that kind of lead after the first inning," said Marquis. "It really helps you relax out there and not have to worry about every pitch you make. It helps that the defense did a great
job when I did make bad pitches."
Florida got two on the board to make it 6-2 game in the second inning. It happened so when Gaby Sanchez took advantage of an error on Hairston and led off the inning by reaching first. After Morrison
doubled, a sacrifice fly from Stanton plated Sanchez and Brett Hayes later singled in Morrison.
In the fifth inning, the Nationals plated another run to push the lead to 7-2, when Rodriguez's double scored Werth, who led off with a single.
The Marlins crept within two more runs to make it 7-4 game in the seventh inning, as Stanton led off with a double and Greg Dobbs followed with a two-bagger. Chris Coghlan then singled to right to
score Dobbs late in the inning.
The Nationals sealed the win at 8-4 in the eighth inning as an infield single from Bernadina scored Rodriguez.
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