Washington, DC (Sports Network) – Ricky Nolasco pitched six-plus shutout innings to win his sixth straight road start, and the Florida Marlins recorded a three-game sweep of the Washington Nationals with a 5-0 rain-soaked victory.
Nolasco (13-8) won for the fourth time in five starts and the eighth time in 10 outings for the Marlins, who matched a season-high with four straight wins. The righty allowed six hits and a walk while fanning eight for Florida.
The game took 5 hours, 18 minutes total after accounting for a 1 hour, 57 minute rain delay.
Mike Stanton continued to swing the hot bat, homering for the second consecutive game and driving in two. In the three-game series, the rookie went 8-for-11 with six RBI and three walks.
Roger Bernadina and Ivan Rodriguez each had two hits for the Nats, who have lost five in a row. Livan Hernandez (8-8) allowed three runs, seven hits and four walks in 6 1/3 frames to receive the loss.
The Marlins got out to a quick lead with some help from their rookie slugger in the second. Dan Uggla worked a leadoff walk, and, two batters later, Stanton slammed his 12th home run of the season to center for a 2-0 advantage.
Florida added to its lead in the third. Logan Morrison and Gaby Sanchez hit consecutive one-out singles to put runners on the corners, and Cody Ross' base hit to center plated Morrison for a three-run lead.
Meanwhile, Nolasco shut down the Washington offense. He allowed a leadoff double to Bernadina in the first and another single to Bernadina in the third, but retired the other nine hitters in the first three innings.
The Nats had a runner at second with one away in the fourth, but Nolasco struck out Mike Morse and Adam Kennedy to strand him. Washington put its first two batters on base and loaded the bases with two down in the fifth, but Adam Dunn struck out.
Nolasco tossed a perfect sixth before allowing back-to-back singles to begin the seventh, prompting the Marlins to turn to Jose Veras out of the bullpen. Veras promptly induced a double play groundout from Alberto Gonzalez and a fly out from Bernadina to keep the Nats off the board.
Uggla scored on a wild pitch in the eighth, while Hanley Ramirez came around to score on an Uggla single in the ninth to account for the final margin, as the Florida bullpen polished off the shutout.
The Marlins lead the season series, 8-4...The Nationals went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position...Florida continues its 10-game road trip with a three-game series in Cincinnati, while Washington stays at home to take on the Diamondbacks for three games.