WASHINGTON (AP) - Jeremy Hermida hit an RBI infield single in the 10th inning and the Florida Marlins beat the Washington Nationals 3-2 Friday night for their fifth straight victory.
John Baker and Cody Ross homered for Florida (9-1), which is off to the best start in franchise history. The 1997 and 2004 Marlins opened the year 8-1.
Jorge Cantu got the winning rally started with a two-out single off Saul Rivera (0-2) and moved to third on Dan Uggla’s bloop hit to right. Hermida hit a grounder deep in the hole at shortstop, and Alberto Gonzalez’s only play was a late throw to first.
Leo Nunez (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth. Matt Lindstrom worked the 10th for his second save, getting three outs after allowing a leadoff double to Elijah Dukes.
Ross tied it at 2 with a one-out shot off Joel Hanrahan in the ninth inning, driving a 2-2 pitch down the left-field line.
Gonzalez, filling in at shortstop with Cristian Guzman sidelined by a sore left hamstring, had three hits and an RBI for the Nationals.
John Lannan breezed through the first three innings but Baker connected with one out in the fourth to give the Marlins a 1-0 lead. Baker hit Lannan’s first pitch into the second deck above the Nationals bullpen.
Washington scored two runs in the bottom half. Jesus Flores reached on a one-out infield single and scored on Gonzalez’s double to left-center. Gonzalez advanced on Lannan’s groundout, finishing a 10-pitch at-bat against Ricky Nolasco, and scored on Anderson Hernandez’s single to left.
Nolasco gave up two runs and seven hits in four innings.
Lannan struck out eight in 6 1-3 innings. He yielded a run and three hits.
Notes:@ Nationals manager Manny Acta was ejected by plate umpire Tim Timmons between the third and fourth innings. It was the second career ejection for Acta. … Washington’s Adam Dunn played right field for the first time this season and walked in the first. He has reached base in each of the Nationals’ first nine games. … The jerseys worn in the first three innings by Dunn and 3B Ryan Zimmerman had the team’s name misspelled as “Natinals.” They later donned tops with the team name spelled correctly. … Florida 3B Emilio Bonifacio, in a 1-for-11 slump that dropped his average to .386, was out of the lineup for the first time this season. Bonifacio, who had led off each of the Marlins’ first nine games, entered the game as a pinch runner in the seventh.
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