• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Young, Nationals avoid season-opening sweep

Apr 4, 2007 - 11:47 PM WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- Dmitri Young helped the Washington Nationals avoid a dubious start to the season.

Young lofted a long single to plate rookie Kory Casto with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Nationals rallied for a 7-6 triumph over the Florida Marlins.

It was the first victory this season for Washington, which had dropped the first two contests of this three-game series by a combined margin of 18-5.

Nationals first-year manager Manny Acta was thrilled to see his team bounce back from an early five-run deficit.

"What a great win," Acta said. "They're a young group and they're very passionate. They never gave up. Hopefully we build and take this momentum into the Arizona series."

The 33-year-old Young, who was signed to a minor-league deal in the offseason, was happy to help Acta record his first managerial win.

"We got our first victory out of the way and we got Manny his first win," Young said. "We play as a team and we played in dramatic fashion today. We never gave up, we grinded it out for 27 outs."

Trailing, 6-4, Washington erupted for three runs in the ninth inning against new Marlins closer Jorge Julio, who was acquired from Arizona at the end of spring training.

Ronnie Belliard opened the frame with a long double - his third hit of the contest - and came around to score on Robert Fick's hit to left field. After Felipe Lopez sacrificed, Castro plated Fick with the tying run on a sharp hit to center field.

"It was a total team effort out there," Fick said. "You have to give Manny credit. He's been rooting us on and he's been teaching. We've played like (garbage) the first 2 1/2 games, and Manny has been keeping the clubhouse positive."

It was the first career RBI for Casto, who was recalled from the minors Tuesday when outfielder Nook Logan was placed on the disabled list.

"Kory was clutch out there today," Fick said. "He kept his poise and came through in the clutch. This was a great team win."

Ryan Zimmerman followed with a short single, and Austin Kearns drew a walk to load the bases. Young skied a long fly ball which dropped just inside the foul line in the left field corner, easily allowing Casto to score and prompting a wild celebration.

"We played A-B-C-D baseball in the ninth inning," Young said. "This was a very good team win."

"It's a tough loss," said Marlins left fielder Josh Willingham, who intentionally let Young's fly ball drop in the hope it would land foul. "We left a bit of runs out there. We can do better, but you have to give them credit. They never gave up."

Righthander Jon Rauch (1-0) recorded the final two outs in the top of the ninth to pick up the win while Ryan Church belted a three-run homer in the sixth for the Nationals, who pounded out 16 hits.

Washington overcame a poor start by rookie Matt Chico, who lasted just four innings in his major-league debut. The lefthander yielded six runs and eight hits with no walks and three strikeouts.

Julio (0-1) was awful in his first save opportunity, surrendering three runs and five hits with one walk while retiring just one batter.

"It's a tough loss," Marlins first-year manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "We had the right guy on at the right place. There hasn't been a closer who's never blown a save. It was just a bleep on the radar screen. If the same situation occurs on Friday, we're going with (Julio)."

The loss was particularly bitter for the Marlins, who just missed their first 3-0 start since 1997, when they won the World Series.

Cody Ross belted a two-run homer in the second inning to start the scoring while Miguel Cabrera and Mike Jacobs belted solo homers in the third to give Florida a 5-0 lead. Cabrera batted .700 (7-for-10) with two homers and six RBI in the three-game series.

Marlins starter Anibal Sanchez worked 5 2/3 innings, allowing four runs and 10 hits. The Venezuelan righthander did not walk a batter and struck out one.