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Nats pound Marlins

Apr 15, 2014 - 3:53 AM Miami, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Jordan Zimmermann tossed seven solid innings and the Washington Nationals recorded 11 extra-base hits in a 9-2 victory over the Miami Marlins.

Zimmermann (1-0) allowed two runs on six hits while striking out seven for the Nationals, who were swept by the Braves over the weekend. He tied Livan Hernandez for the most wins as a Nationals pitcher with 44.

"It was a lot better today," said Zimmermann, who lasted only 1 2/3 innings against Miami last week. "I was getting ahead with the fastball. When I'm able to get ahead, I can throw everything else where I want and when I want. When I fall behind, that's when I run into trouble."

Sandy Leon and Tyler Moore homered for Washington, which had a season-high 16 hits. Anthony Rendon went 2-for-5 with three RBI, while Bryce Harper had two doubles and an RBI triple.

Garrett Jones hit a solo homer for the Marlins, who have lost eight in a row.

"The only way we can get out of this thing is somebody needs to step up and say it's over and done with. We either need a big pitching performance or a big play to spark us and get us going," said Marlins manager Mike Redmond.

Miami starter Brad Hand (0-1) lasted just three innings, giving up five runs on eight hits. Kevin Slowey allowed four runs on seven hits over 3 2/3 frames.

The Nationals jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Jayson Werth hit a two-out double to left-center field that hit off the top of the wall and held up following a video review, and Harper followed with an RBI triple to right- center field.

Washington tacked on three more runs in the second. Moore led off the frame with a homer to right that just cleared the wall, followed by Danny Espinosa's double to left and Leon's single to right. With runners on the corners, Rendon hit a two-run double to left.

The Marlins got one run back in the bottom half of the inning when Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit a ground-rule double to right and crossed the plate on Reed Johnson's single to left.

Espinosa added an RBI triple in the third to make it 5-1 Washington.

Jones homered in the sixth, but the Nationals scored four runs in the seventh. Harper doubled and raced home on Moore's single to center, Leon added a two- run homer -- the first of his career -- before Rendon's RBI triple made it a 9-2 game.

Game Notes

The Nats swept a three-game set with the Marlins in the nation's capital last week ... Zimmermann went 3-0 versus the Marlins in 2013 ... Hand fell to 0-3 lifetime against the Nationals.