Game: Florida Marlins @ Washington Nationals
Venue: Dolphin Stadium
Start Time: 7:35 P.M. Eastern Time
Attendance: 23,379
Length of Game: 3:06
Starting Pitchers: Ricky Nolasco ( Marlins) vs Tim Redding ( Nationals)
For young and old, winning is getting contagious for the Florida Marlins, whether it's 25-year-old Ricky Nolasco making his best start of the year or 40-year-old Luis Gonzalez clearing the bases to surpass 1,400 RBI.
Nolasco broke a personal three-game losing streak with six strong innings, and Gonzalez blew the game open with a three-run double in the sixth Friday night as the Marlins ran their winning streak to a season-best five games with a 7-3 victory over the Washington Nationals.
Florida (21-14) is seven games over .500 for the first time since September 2005, and Gonzalez is enjoying the ride as much as anybody. He is hitting .388 in his last 10 games, and his double was the 574th of his career, tying Charlie Gehringer for 18th on the career list. It also gave him 1,401 RBI.
The Marlins took a 3-1 lead into the sixth and came away with four runs, taking advantage of a sudden spate of wildness from Nationals starter Tim Redding (4-3). Redding walked three of the last six batters he faced, including Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla to load the bases.
Washington manager Manny Acta then called on reliever Jesus Colome, who had allowed four of seven inherited runners to score this season. Make it seven out of 10: He threw a fastball up in the strike zone to Gonzalez, who drove it into the right-field corner.
The Nationals have lost three of four and are 1-6 against the Marlins this season. They got a subpar performance from Redding, who has been their most consistent pitcher this season.
Redding walked a season-high four over 5 1/3 innings. He gave up only four hits and struck out three but was charged with five earned runs.
Nolasco allowed one run, four hits and walked two. He also struck out a season-high six. His only trouble came with two outs in the fourth, when Nick Johnson and Lastings Milledge singled and Austin Kearns walked. Nolasco then walked Wily Mo Pena with the bases loaded but got out of the inning when Wil Nieves grounded into a fielder's choice.
Cody Ross singled to open the game, stole second and advanced to third when catcher Nieves' throw ended up in center field. He scored on Ramirez's sacrifice fly to give the Marlins a 1-0 lead.
Florida went ahead 3-0 in the fourth on Jorge Cantu's two-run single to the opposite field, scoring Jeremy Hermida and Ramirez.
Down 7-1, the Nationals picked up two runs in the seventh on RBI hits by Cristian Guzman and Johnson off Doug Waechter, but Justin Miller entered and got Kearns to fly to shallow center with the bases loaded and two out.
Up Next: Andrew Miller will be making the start for the Marlins in game 2-- Miller is coming off from his second victory of the season in which he pitched a solid six innings, allowing just four hits and giving up two earned runs and four strikeouts. Miller is now 2-2 on the season for the Marlins with a still somewhat high ERA of 7.96.
Michael O' Connor will be make his first start on the season after having come out of the bullpen in the previous 25 games of his young career. O' Connor has an 1-0 record with an ERA of 6.35.
First pitch is set for 7:10 P.M. Eastern Time. The game will be televised locally on FSN Florida. Tonight's game can also be heard on 790 The Ticket AM Radio ( English) or 1140 WQBA AM Radio ( Spanish).
