Nats ride Gonzalez's quality start, flurry of hits to 12-3 romp

MIAMI - Gio Gonzalez loves pitching in Miami. A couple more starts like the one he authored tonight, and the Nationals left-hander might just find himself making an extra trip back home next month. For the All-Star Game.

Gonzalez went seven strong innings in his latest quality start, the Nationals got clutch hits from Bryce Harper, Brian Goodwin, Ryan Zimmerman and Stephen Drew and then piled on late to earn a 12-3 victory over the Marlins.

It was Gonzalez's 11th quality start in 15 outings this season, and after the Nats bullpen finished this one off, the Hialeah, Fla., native now owns a 7-1 record and 2.96 ERA to bolster his growing All-Star candidacy.

Up four runs after seven innings, Blake Treinen pitched a much-needed 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth. And after the Nationals tacked on five insurance runs in the top of the ninth, Matt Albers recorded the final three outs in a low-pressure situation to seal the deal.

As they did in Monday night's opener, the Nationals opened up an early lead, getting a two-run single from Harper - one pitch after he fouled off a surprise bunt attempt - in the top of the third to give his team a 2-0 lead.

A big two-out rally in the top of the fifth added to the lead. Goodwin got things started with a single up the middle on a 3-2 pitch from Edinson Volquez. Then after Harper was intentionally walked, Zimmerman smoked a double down the left field line to bring two more runs home.

Undeterred by that failed strategy, the Marlins tried it again. They intentionally walked Daniel Murphy, which merely set the stage for Drew (playing for the injured Anthony Rendon) to line an RBI single to right that gave the Nationals a 6-1 lead.

Miami did get a couple of key hits off Gonzalez to keep the game within striking distance. J.T. Realmuto doubled home a run in the fourth, and Marcell Ozuna launched a 439-foot homer in the fifth to trim the lead to 6-3.

But Gonzalez came through with well-executed pitches when the needed them most. The left-hander pitched out of jams in the first and sixth innings, then got quick outs late to keep his pitch count at a modest 101 after the seventh.

And when Murphy lofted a leadoff homer in the top of the eighth to extend the lead to 7-3, Dusty Baker decided to thank his starter for another quality performance and entrust the final six outs of this game to his bullpen.