JUPITER, Fla. – Ricky Nolasco breezed through the first inning in four pitches. That made it a whole lot easier to become the first Miami starter to reach the seventh this spring.
Nolasco pitched 6 1-3 innings of one-run ball and Heath Bell got three outs for his first save for the Marlins, who beat the Washington Nationals 3-1 in an exhibition game on Tuesday.
Bell, who signed a $27 million, three-year contract over the winter, struck out two and walked none.
Nolasco allowed nine hits, but just one run.
"I tried to get them over for strikes and just stay aggressive and let them hit the ball," he said.
"I was singled to death or whatever you want to call that, all of them bloopers but at the same time they hit some balls pretty good and right at guys and we made plays."
More important to him, he didn't walk anyone, which was huge considering he had walked five over his last 9 1-3 innings coming into the game.
"I felt really good with my delivery," Nolasco said. "I was rushing before. In between sides I was working on slowing it down a little bit and it ended up working out good.
Washington outhit the Marlins 11 to eight but all 11 hits were singles.
Left-hander Gio Gonzalez recovered from a rough first inning for the Nationals and struck out six batters in five innings. He was charged with three runs — all in the first — and seven hits.
"He got five innings in, around 80 pitches, which was a perfect next-to-last start in spring. So I feel good about that, it was a good outing," Washington manager Davey Johnson said.
Coming off his worst start of the spring, Gonzalez threw 28 pitches in the first, yielding three hits and a walk. He eventually settled down and allowed four hits over his final four innings, retiring seven of the last eight batters he faced. He threw 81 pitches, 53 for strikes.
"There's a lot of positive things that came out of that first inning. I'm glad that I settled down and stopped the bleeding immediately," Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez, Washington's No. 2 starter, allowed eight runs over 3 2-3 innings on Thursday against the Cardinals.
Austin Kearns hit a two-run double in the first inning. He went 2 for 4 and is batting .364 with a team-high nine RBIs this spring.
Gaby Sanchez singled in Jose Reyes for Miami's first run of the game.
Gonzalez was an All-Star last year with Oakland, going 16-12 with a 3.12 ERA in 32 starts. He was acquired in a trade on Dec. 23.
Bell, who had pitched earlier in the game in five previous scoreless appearances, had three-ball counts on three batters. He hit Brett Carroll with a 3-1 pitch.
"When you go 3-2 every count, it kind of makes you nervous," manager Ozzie Guillen said.
"With the credentials he has, I'm not worried about it. The only thing I care (about) is when I look up to the scoreboard, make sure its zeros up there. How we get it done doesn't matter."
Austin Kearns hit a two-run double in the first inning. He went 2 for 4 and is batting .364 with a team-high nine RBIs this spring.
Gaby Sanchez singled in Jose Reyes for Miami's first run of the game.
Gonzalez was an All-Star last year with Oakland, going 16-12 with a 3.12 ERA in 32 starts. He was acquired in a trade on Dec. 23.
"I feel like I'm at 85 maybe 90 percent there," Gonzalez said. "I've got one more start out there and we'll see where it goes. Hopefully I can turn it around when the season starts and I feel like I'll be at 100 percent."
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