Anibal Sanchez pitched into the eighth inning, striking out four to lead the Florida Marlins to a 4-1 win over the Washington Nationals.
The Nationals were unable to make the most of a solid performance on the mound from Jason Marquis who went six innings, giving up two runs and fanning eight batters.
Marquis took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, but Chad Tracy broke it up with a single. Then Tracy and Mike Stanton scored on a two-run single by Emilio Bonifacio to give the Marlins a 2-0 lead.
The Nationals had no answer as they failed to mount much of a threat. Newly acquired catcher Wilson Ramos managed to double in a run in the 8th inning to make it 3-1, but the Marlins added an insurance run in the ninth.
Washington stranded a pair of baserunners in the bottom of the frame as Adam Dunn struck out and Roger Bernadina grounded out to end the game with Ryan Zimmerman and Danny Espinosa aboard.
The Nationals managed just five hits in the game as Sanchez stymied Washington's lineup, continuing his dominance over the Nationals this season. Sanchez is unbeaten when pitching against the Nationals in 2010.
Bonifacio had a pair of RBIs and also scored a run himself in the eighth on a Logan Morrison single. With the hit Morrison extended his hitting streak to 10 games. He has has reached base in 31 consecutive games.
With the loss, the Nationals have dropped four straight and fall to 60-82 on the season, 22 games behind the NL East-leading Phillies. Marquis falls to 2-8 on the year despite his third consecutive strong outing and the Nationals will try to avoid the sweep against Florida tomorrow at 1:35 ET.