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Marlins rally late to take down Nationals

Jul 29, 2014 - 5:07 AM Miami, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Jeff Baker's RBI single capped a four-run ninth inning for the Miami Marlins, who rallied to beat the Washington Nationals, 7-6, in the opener of a three-game set.

The Marlins trailed 6-0 through six innings and entered the ninth behind 6-3. Casey McGehee led off the ninth with a walk and Garrett Jones doubled to put runners on second and third. Marcell Ozuna hit a line drive to center to score McGehee, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit a sacrifice fly to right to plate Jones. A wild pitch moved Ozuna to second with just one out. With the count full, Adeiny Hechavarria hit a liner to center for a game-tying triple.

After Donovan Solano was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners, Baker, who had entered the game in the eighth to pinch-hit, hit a line drive that sailed over the head of Bryce Harper and landed at the base of the wall in left to score the winning run.

"I don't know if I've seen a better one or a bigger one than that," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. "Collectively, those at-bats we put together were tremendous. These guys don't quit. They don't cash in. They keep fighting."

Rafael Soriano (2-1) gave up three hits and four runs in the ninth, but ultimately it was Jerry Blevins who threw the final pitch in the frame.

"He's been pitching a lot lately, and tonight everything was up in the zone," Nationals manager Matt Williams said of Soriano.

Mike Dunn (8-5) struck out one in a perfect ninth inning to earn the win for the Marlins, who won their fifth game in a row.

After scoring one run in the first, Washington exploded with five more in the sixth inning. Denard Span, Anthony Rendon and Jayson Werth opened the sixth with singles, which pushed Span across. Ian Desmond walked to load the bases before starter Nathan Eovaldi was removed in favor of Dan Jennings.

Jennings didn't fair too well as he failed to get out of the inning. Harper reached first on an error by Hechavarria to plate Rendon, then Wilson Ramos walked to score Werth. A Danny Espinosa single capped the scoring for the Nationals, pushing Desmond and Harper across the plate.

The Marlins finally put two on the board in their half of the seventh . With a runner on first and two away, Jones's line drive into right fell a few feet short of the diving glove of Nate McLouth, giving Jones a triple and scoring Giancarlo Stanton. Ozuna stepped up to the plate and singled in Jones.

Miami picked up another in the eighth to make the score 6-3. Baker grounded out, but scored Hechavarria on the play.

Game Notes

Werth was replaced by McLouth after being injured while trying to stretch a single into a double in the seventh inning ... Baker's single in the ninth extended his hitting streak to 11 games ... Hechavarria hit a single in the eighth to end a personal streak of 20 at-bats without a hit ... Marlins reliever Steve Cishek was named Co-National League Player of the Week on Monday, along with Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets ... Prior to the game, the Marlins recalled outfielder Jake Marisnick from Triple-A New Orleans and optioned catcher J.T. Realmuto to New Orleans.