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Linden's infield hit lifts Marlins past Nationals

Sep 12, 2007 - 10:28 PM MIAMI (Ticker) -- In a game that featured power early, Todd Linden's well-placed hit proved to be the difference.

An infield single by Linden with two outs in the 12th inning lifted the Florida Marlins to a 5-4 victory over the Washington Nationals in the finale of a three-game series on Wednesday.

It was the second straight win for Florida, which will start a six-game road trip at Colorado on Friday.

With the Marlins mustering just one hit between the seventh and 11th innings, Mike Jacobs left off the final frame with a double to the opposite field off Saul Rivera (4-6) before being replaced by pinch runner Reggie Abercrombie. After Miguel Olivo struck out, rookie Robert Andino grounded out to shortstop, allowing Abercrombie to reach third.

Linden, who entered the contest batting .226 (35-for-155) in 102 games between the Marlins and San Francisco, followed with a grounder up the middle that shortstop D'Angelo Jimenez could not field.

"That baseball had eyes," Linden said. "This is a funny game sometimes. You go up there just looking to make contact and good things can happen."

It was the first RBI in eight games for Linden, who entered the contest in the top of the 12th as a defensive replacement.

Rookie Daniel Barone (1-2) picked up his first career win, struck out one in a perfect 12th.

"I'm speechless," Barone said. "It was one of those games where I knew every one might get in there and it just worked out. We got it done."

Washington's best opportunity to score occurred in the 11th inning, as Tony Batista led off with a single against Matt Lindstrom before being sacrificed to second by Jimenez. Batista later went to third before Ryan Zimmerman was intentionally walked and Nook Logan flew out to right-center field to end the threat.

After hitting four home runs in Tuesday's 13-8 win, the Marlins continued to connect on the long ball, as Miguel Olivo and Jeremy Hermida both homered.

"It's a good sign for them and the club," Florida manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "We're showing that we are going to battle right down to the last game."

Olivo opened the scoring in the third inning with a two-run shot off Nationals starter Joel Hanrahan. It was the third homer in the last six games for the catcher who tied his career high with 16 home runs.

Finishing with 104 pitches in 3 1/2 innings due to control issues, Hanrahan issued a pair of one-out walks in the fourth before being lifted in favor of rookie Winston Abreu, who surrendered an RBI single to Miguel Cabrera for a 3-2 edge.

"It was a very disappointing effort on my part. I tried to do too much," Hanrahan said. "Today was not very good for me, but I just have to keep working on things and just focus on my next start."

It was the second straight start that the rookie Hanrahan failed to make it past fourth, giving up five runs and four hits in 3 1/3 innings of a 7-1 loss at the Atlanta Braves on Friday.

"He knows he has to throw more strikes," Washington manager Manny Acta said. "He has to be in the zone more, he just can't get into a situation like that with so many pitches early in the game."

After the Nationals connected on back-to-back home runs in the fifth to take a 4-3 lead, Hermida continued his encouraging second half by hitting his 16th home run of the season off Jonathan Albaladejo in the sixth to tie the score.

After batting a disappointing .231 in 51 games prior to the All-Star break, the 23-year-old Hermida has hit .344 (64-for-186) with eight homers and 24 RBI in 56 games since.

Washington, which absorbed just its third loss in 10 games in September on Tuesday, also displayed some power of its own.

"We certainly had our chances. We showed a lot out there but it just didn't result in a win," Acta said.

In the fourth inning, Wily Mo Pena hit a drive off Florida's Byung-Hyun Kim that left fielder Alfredo Amezaga could not come up with near the wall before fumbling the ball, allowing Pena to reach third.

Pena scored on a wild pitch by Kim directly after and Hanrahan attempted to help his own cause with an RBI single later in the frame to tie the score at 2-2.

Although the Marlins did take the lead in the bottom of the fourth, the Nationals went back ahead with another power display, as Ryan Church and Pena hit back-to-back homers off Kim.

It was the third time this season that Washington had consecutive home runs.

Similar to his counterpart, Kim was a victim of a lack of control, finishing with 113 pitches in 5 2/3 innings. He finished with four runs and seven hits allowed with four walks.

Kim, who tied a season high with 10 strikeouts, was attempting to win his career-high 10th game in a season and fourth straight since being re-acquired by Florida from Arizona last month.

A day after rapping out a season-high 21 hits, the Marlins had their opportunities to score an abundance of runs for Kim early, leaving the bases loaded the first two innings.

Hanrahan, who finished with three runs, six hits and six walks allowed, did manage to strike out Mike Jacobs and Hermida in respective two-out situations to end each threat.

"What our pen did today was great," Nationals' outfielder Ryan Church said. "To keep those (Florida) guys down is tough but they did the job. It's just too bad the game had to end like that."