MIAMI -AP- Marcell Ozuna singled home the winning run with two outs in the ninth inning, and the Miami Marlins overcame an early six-run deficit to beat the Washington Nationals 8-7 on Monday night.
Miami slugger Justin Bour tied the game at 6 in the third inning with a grand slam, his 18th homer. Giancarlo Stanton also hit his 18th of the season to make it 7-all in the seventh.Bryce Harper hit his 18th homer for Washington. Anthony Rendon also went deep before leaving in the fifth inning with a neck stinger he sustained diving for a grounder. He is day to dayEnny Romero (2-3) retired his first two batters in the ninth but walked Dee Gordon on four pitches. Gordon stole second and went to third on a sharp infield single by Stanton before Christian Yelich walked on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases.Ozuna then hit a 96 mph fastball on an 0-2 count to the warning track in left-center to trigger a celebration by the Marlins, who lost to Atlanta on walk-off hits by Brandon Phillips on Saturday and Sunday.Washington's Tanner Roark squandered a 6-0 lead by giving up six runs in the third and failed to make it through the inning. The right-hander has an ERA of 7.94 in his past three starts.A.J. Ramos (2-3), the Marlins' sixth pitcher, worked around a leadoff walk in a scoreless ninth. Miami won for the 11th time in its past 13 home games.Four consecutive Marlins reached with two outs in the third on an infield single, two walks and Bour's third career slam.
Nationals center fielder Michael A. Taylor had a two-run single, threw out two runners on the bases and robbed the Marlins of a run with a running, backhand catch on the warning track.Miami left-hander Justin Nicolino lasted only three innings in his return from a bruised left index finger. Pitching for the first time since May 30, he allowed six runs, three earned.HARPER'S HOMERHarper was slow to realize he had homered in the first inning. His line drive barely cleared the right-field fence and caromed back onto the field, and Harper took a big turn before returning to first base, thinking he had settled for a long single. Only then did he realize the umpires were signaling the hit was a home run.The homer was Harper's second against a left-hander this year. He extended his hitting streak to 12 games.ROSTER MOVEBefore the game, the Marlins optioned RHP Drew Steckenrider to Triple-A New Orleans so they could reinstate Nicolino from the DL.
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