Miami, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Adeiny Hechavarria's bases-clearing triple in the fourth led the Miami Marlins to a 6-2 win over the Washington Nationals on Sunday to complete a series sweep.
Miami starter Dan Haren (2-1) allowed two runs on three hits and three walks in five innings. Dee Gordon hit four singles for the Marlins, and Giancarlo Stanton had two hits, including one of Miami's three triples.
Gio Gonzalez (1-2) was charged with all six Miami runs in five-plus innings on 10 hits and a walk with eight strikeouts. Bryce Harper hit his fifth home run of the season for Washington.
Washington, which entered the day second in the league in errors, made another defensive mistake prior to Hechavarria's big hit, although it was not an error. With two outs, Stanton tried rounding third to score on Ichiro Suzuki's infield single, but he was able to scamper back to third when Wilson Ramos did not throw the ball to Yunel Escobar to tag Stanton out.
"We caught a break in the rundown," said Marlins manager Mike Redmond. "You could just see it was going to be a big play."
After Denard Span's RBI single in the fifth pulled Washington within one, the Marlins answered immediately in the bottom half of the inning. Stanton's triple scored Martin Prado, and he scored himself on Marcell Ozuna's sacrifice fly.
J.T. Realmuto led off the sixth with a triple, and Ichiro promptly drove him in with a single.
Haren was done after five innings, but the Nats' offense also proved to be finished. Sam Dyson relieved him to throw a 1-2-3 sixth, and A.J. Ramos only allowed a single in two innings with four strikeouts. Steve Cishek tossed a perfect ninth to wrap up the game.
"It's a long season," said Harper. "I'm sure we didn't want to start like this, but it happens."
Prior to Ichiro's single in the fourth that kept the inning alive for Hechavarria, Gonzalez cruised through three innings and struck out back-to- back batters in the fourth with two runners on base.
Haren entered the game having allowed seven runs in three starts, all of which scored on home runs. That continued in the second inning when Harper led off with a homer to right field to put the Nationals up 1-0.
Game Notes
Gonzalez, a Miami-area native, had only allowed four runs in 13 innings over two prior starts in Miami ... Escobar extended his on-base streak to 16 games ... Harper's streak of 10 straight games drawing a walk ended ... Gordon entered the game tied with Baltimore's Adam Jones for the league lead in hits with 28 ... Each team is back on the field Monday, with the Marlins hosting the Mets in a three-game series and Washington traveling to Atlanta for three games.
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