(Sports Network) - Marlins right-hander Chris Volstad aims for a third defeat of Washington since the start of August today, when Florida meets the Nationals in the finale of a three-game series in DC.
The Marlins clinched a series win with their second straight victory Saturday night, as Anibal Sanchez pitched 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball to help Florida beat Washington, 4-1.
Sanchez (12-9) added to his career-high win total after allowing four hits while fanning four without walking a batter for the Marlins, who have won seven of their last 11 games.
Emilio Bonifacio had two hits and drove in two runs, while Logan Morrison reached base for the 31st straight game with an RBI single.
Clay Hensley notched his second career save with a scoreless ninth.
Wilson Ramos' RBI double accounted for Washington's offense, as the Nats lost their fourth straight. Jason Marquis (2-8) was the hard-luck loser after yielding two runs, five hits and a walk while striking out eight in six innings.
Volstad, who was 5-8 at the end of July, defeated Washington on Aug. 11 at Nationals Park and followed up with a 16-10 victory over the visitors in a Sept. 1 rematch in Miami.
The 23-year-old, a first-round pick of the Marlins in 2005, is unbeaten in his last four starts overall since a 7-1 loss at Pittsburgh on Aug. 11.
In those four starts, he's 3-0 with a no-decision while allowing 29 hits and 14 runs in 24 innings.
Volstad is 5-1 in eight career starts against Washington with a 5.27 earned run average in 42 2/3 innings.
He's 5-5 in 13 starts on the road this season.
For the Nationals, second-year righty Jordan Zimmerman makes his fourth start of the season.
The 24-year-old debuted in 2010 with a four-inning stint in an 11-10 defeat of St. Louis on Aug. 26 and has since gotten no-decisions against Florida and the New York Mets while surrendering four hits and three runs in 10 innings.
The appearance against the Marlins featured six innings of scoreless one-hit ball in a game Florida won, 1-0, on Aug. 31.
In that game, Zimmerman walked none and struck out nine.
In two career starts against the Marlins stretching back to last season, he's allowed just two runs on seven hits in 12 innings while walking one batter and striking out 15.