The Miami Marlins completed a three game sweep of the Washington Nationals on Wednesday with a 5-3 victory that put the team only a half game out of first place in the National League East. Coupled with a New York Mets loss, the Marlins are also now alone in second place in the division and are a season high seven games over .500 with a 29-22 record. The record setting month completed with 21 wins as the Marlins have the final day of May off.
Josh Johnson evened up his record at 3-3 with a six run effort in what goes into the books as a quality start. Johnson allowed three runs on seven hits while walking one and striking out five. At the plate, the Marlins’ ace helped himself going 1-1 with a run batted in. Edward Mujica pitched the seventh and eighth innings in perfect style to earn his ninth hold. Heath Bell worked a scoreless ninth to earn his tenth save on a third consecutive day. The Marlins’ closer saved every game during the sweep.
Hanley Ramirez collected three hits including his 13th double of the season to lift his average to .275 on the year. Ramirez was caught twice on a pair of stolen base attempts possibly attributed to a softer infield due to a storm before the game. Giancarlo Stanton blasted his 13th home run of the year which gave him 12 home runs in May. That number ties a Marlins’ record for home runs in a month with Dan Uggla being the other record holder. Stanton also knocked in two runs and is now hitting .304 on the season.
The Marlins are off on Thursday before opening a series in Philadelphia on Friday. The scheduled starters are Kyle Kendrick and Mark Buehrle.
About Larry Walansky
