Miami, FL – Hanley Ramirez hit a two-run homer and Carlos Lee drove in a pair of runs to lead the Miami Marlins to a 5-3 win over the Washington Nationals in the finale of a four-game set.
Emilio Bonifacio had an RBI while Jose Reyes, Carlos Zambrano and Justin Ruggiano each scored runs for the Marlins, who have alternated wins and losses out of the All-Star break.
"We played good as a team," Ramirez said. "I think we've been expecting that since the beginning of the year."
Zambrano (5-7) allowed three runs on eight hits with two strikeouts over six innings to earn the win in his 300th career start. He snapped a six-start winless streak.
Heath Bell worked around a leadoff hit in the eighth and Mike Dunn stranded two in the ninth to pick up his first career save.
Ryan Zimmerman doubled and homered while Michael Morse collected three hits and drove in a run for the Nationals, who have dropped three of their last five. Danny Espinosa went 3-for-4 and finished a homer shy of the cycle for the NL East leaders.
Edwin Jackson (5-5) was tagged for four runs on six hits over five-plus frames.
"At the end of the day you have to get the job done," Jackson said. "Today, I just never really could get into a rhythm."
The Nationals took a 1-0 lead in the second. Espinosa tripled and then scored on Jose Flores' sacrifice fly to right.
Zimmerman's solo homer in the third gave Washington a 2-0 advantage.
But the Marlins answered with four runs in the home half to take a 4-2 lead. Zambrano and Reyes hit back-to-back singles to open the frame before advancing on a Bonifacio sacrifice bunt. Lee followed with a base hit to plate Zambrano and Reyes.
Ramirez crushed a two-run homer off the sculpture in center later in the inning.
Washington got one back in the sixth to make it 4-3. Zimmerman doubled and then scored when Morse singled up the middle.
Miami added a run in the seventh when Bonifacio laid down a perfect bunt to execute a suicide squeeze. Ruggiano roped a pinch-hit double to open the inning then moved to third on a Reyes sacrifice.
As Nats' reliever Tom Gorzelanny lifted his leg to start his delivery, Ruggiano broke for home and scored without a play as Bonifacio cued the ball up the first base line.
The Nationals had two runners on with two outs in the ninth but Dunn was able to get Adam LaRoche to go down looking to seal the win.
Game Notes
Zambrano is 130-88 in his career. Since becoming a full-time starter in 2003 Zambrano has 125 wins moving him into sole possession of seventh place among active starters...Zimmerman has 16 career homer against Miami, more than any other team.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.