Jun 30, 2008 - 11:46 PM
0 shoutsBy Christopher Stock PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer
MIAMI (Ticker) -- Josh Willingham hit a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 10th inning as the Florida Marlins recorded their second walk-off victory in as many games with a 6-5 win over the Washington Nationals on Monday.
Willingham hit a first-pitch offering off Nationals closer Jon Rauch (4-2) to lead off the 10th and sent it over the left field wall for his second homer of the game. Willingham, who had missed two months with a lower back strain, had not homered since April 24.
"It's unbelievable," said Willingham after his third career walk-off homer. "I wasn't at all trying to hit a homer. I was just trying to hit it hard, he just threw me a good pitch to hit. I didn't know it was gone, I was just trying to get to second."
Hanley Ramirez hit a solo homer in the bottom of the ninth with one out to tie the game for the second straight game. Ramirez connected on a 2-2 pitch from Rauch to deep left-center field for his 19th blast of the season.
"It's not something you see every day," Ramirez said. "So when you got a chance you have to try to do it."
"If those pitches are where they needed to be, then obviously we aren't in this situation right now," Rauch said. "One of the things about my job is if I make mistakes, generally it costs us ballgames, and that's what happened."
Kevin Gregg (6-2) pitched a scoreless 10th to earn the victory as the Marlins improved to 9-1 against the Nationals this season.
"So far these guys have our number," Washington manager Manny Acta said. "We have not been able to keep them in the ballpark, that's been the story for two years. They just bomb away and they seem to it against us constantly."
The Nationals took the lead in the eighth inning on a wild pitch by Renyel Pinto, allowing Ronnie Belliard to score from third base.
Willingham, who has eight home runs on the campaign, hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the third inning to give the Marlins a 3-1 advantage.
"I've never been able to explain home runs," Willingham said. "I think it all has to do with timing and I got some good pitches to hit that happened to go out. It felt really good to hit one because it had been a really long time."
The Nationals pulled to 3-2 on an RBI single by Willie Harris in the fourth inning.
Elijah Dukes tied the game with a solo blast in the fifth and, two batters later, Dimitri Young gave the Nationals a 4-3 lead with another solo shot. It was the fourth home run of the season for both players.
Florida's Ryan Tucker and Washington's Tim Redding both allowed four runs with six strikeouts over five innings.
From the Bleachers
-
WASHINGTON: 5
FLORIDA: 6
Final/10
Jun 30 10:36 PM -
NL
AT FLORIDA - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY JOSH WILLINGHAM (8) TO LEFT WITH 0 OUT IN
THE 10TH OFF JON RAUCH.
FINAL SCORE: FLORIDA 6, WASHINGTON 5
Jun 30 10:35 PM -
NL
AT FLORIDA - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY HANLEY RAMIREZ (19) TO LEFT WITH 1 OUT IN
THE 9TH OFF JON RAUCH.
CURRENT SCORE: WASHINGTON 5, FLORIDA 5
DUE UP FOR FLORIDA: J HERMIDA (.272, 1-FOR-3, BB)
Jun 30 10:17 PM -
NL
AT FLORIDA - SCORING UPDATE
WILD PITCH BY RENYEL PINTO ALLOWED RONNIE BELLIARD TO
SCORE.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, F LOPEZ ON FIRST, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: WASHINGTON 5
FLORIDA 4 TOP, 8TH
DUE UP FOR WASHINGTON: W HARRIS (.204, 1-FOR-2, HBP, RBI)
Jun 30 9:46 PM -
NL
AT FLORIDA - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY MATT TREANOR SCORED CODY ROSS.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, R ANDINO ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: WASHINGTON 4
FLORIDA 4 BOTTOM, 6TH
DUE UP FOR FLORIDA: D WAECHTER (.167, 0 HR, 0 RBI)
Jun 30 9:19 PM -
NL
AT FLORIDA - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY DMITRI YOUNG (4) TO RIGHT CENTER WITH 2
OUT IN THE 5TH OFF RYAN TUCKER.
CURRENT SCORE: WASHINGTON 4, FLORIDA 3
DUE UP FOR WASHINGTON: R BELLIARD (.215, 1-FOR-2)
Jun 30 8:41 PM -
NL
AT FLORIDA - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY ELIJAH DUKES (4) TO LEFT WITH 1 OUT IN THE
5TH OFF RYAN TUCKER.
CURRENT SCORE: WASHINGTON 3, FLORIDA 3
DUE UP FOR WASHINGTON: J FLORES (.288, 0-FOR-2)
Jun 30 8:39 PM -
NL
AT FLORIDA - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY WILLIE HARRIS SCORED RONNIE BELLIARD.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, W HARRIS ON FIRST, P LO DUCA ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: WASHINGTON 2
FLORIDA 3 TOP, 4TH
DUE UP FOR WASHINGTON: T REDDING (.115, 0-FOR-0, SAC)
Jun 30 8:21 PM -
NL
AT FLORIDA - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY JOSH WILLINGHAM (7) TO LEFT WITH 2 OUT
IN THE 3RD OFF TIM REDDING SCORED JEREMY HERMIDA.
CURRENT SCORE: WASHINGTON 1, FLORIDA 3
DUE UP FOR FLORIDA: M JACOBS (.233, 1-FOR-1)
Jun 30 8:05 PM -
NL
AT FLORIDA - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY CRISTIAN GUZMAN SCORED WILLIE HARRIS.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, C GUZMAN ON FIRST, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: WASHINGTON 1
FLORIDA 1 TOP, 3RD
DUE UP FOR WASHINGTON: E DUKES (.250, 0-FOR-0, BB)
Jun 30 7:54 PM -
NL
AT FLORIDA - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY ROBERT ANDINO SCORED JOSH WILLINGHAM.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, R ANDINO ON FIRST, M JACOBS ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: WASHINGTON 0
FLORIDA 1 BOTTOM, 2ND
DUE UP FOR FLORIDA: M TREANOR (.239, 1 HR, 13 RBI)
Jun 30 7:40 PM
