Nats sweep the Fish

With the win the Nationals have now won a season-high five games in a row to bring their overall record to 37-72.

The Marlins came into the game with a 55-52 record as while as a shot at the wild card and a chip on their shoulder. The Fish figured this series to be a walk through against the Nats, however, the D.C. club spoiled the party for Florida, and maybe destroyed their post season hopes in one week.

The Marlins busted out to an early lead Thursday night. The club went up 6-0 before the Nats could blink an eye, as Craig Stammen pitched yet another awful start. The right-handed rookie had looked very good in the first half of the season, going 2-4 with a 4.45 earned run average, including a 3.18 ERA in July.

The young twirler has struggled since the break, however, posting an abysmal 7.94 ERA in the second half, and a terrifying 21.21 ERA in the month of August.

Luckily for the Nationals, the bullpen only allowed two earned runs in the remaining seven innings.

A 6-0 deficit would be an opportunity to roll over for the Manny Acta Nationals of the first half, however, this club has made battling back an art form.

The new slugging nationals posted three runs in the fourth inning, and four runs in the fifth.

With the game tied going into the bottom of the eighth, the Nationals didn’t just take the lead, they ran away with hit. The club scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth, slamming the door on the series sweep.

Ryan Zimmerman ignited the spark, going 4-for-4 on Thursday night. The hot corner was a double away from the cycle, and knocked in his 23^rd homer of the season. He is now only one homer shy of his career high.

Also contributing offensively was Elijah Dukes, who went 3-for-4 while hitting his seventh homer of the year.

In total the Nationals had 12 runs on 14 hits and seven walks.