Marlins send Nationals into last place with 11-2 setback

By Byron Kerr

Nationals

July 26, 2011, 5:27pm

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The Florida Marlins continued their dominance over the Washington Nationals with an 11-2 victory Tuesday in the series opener before 24,650 at Nationals Park. The loss sent the Nationals into last place in the National League East for the first time since June 15. The Marlins' Omar Infante triple and run in the first, and Logan Morrison's two-run blast off of Nationals' starter Jordan Zimmermann in the third, set the tone early as the Fish bolted out to a 4-0 lead. In the fifth, Greg Dobbs cranked a solo shot into the right field bullpen and the Marlins led 5-0. It was the second straight poor outing for Zimmermann, who fell to 6-9. Zimmermann has allowed 12 runs in his last two starts. Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco didn't allow a hit until the Laynce Nix crushed a solo shot over the right fence in the fifth. In the sixth, Michael Morse added an RBI double that scored Ryan Zimmerman to make it 5-2. The Marlins scored five times in the ninth, including a leadoff homer by John Buck, off Henry Rodriguez. Florida has now won 6 of 10 in the season series and are 22-8 at Nationals Park since 2008.