Fish Wrap: Marlins 3, Nationals 2

I think it's safe to say Donnie Murphy's hand is feeling better.

After being hit by a pitch on Saturday, Murph was back in the lineup Tuesday night to open the Marlins' series with the Nationals, and he opened it with a bang, hitting a walk-off single in the tenth inning to put the Fish in the win column.

The walk-off was an exhilarating end to what was at times a frustrating game, as the Marlins went 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position before Donnie Bleepin' Murphy's two-out hit ended it. 

Anibal Sanchez was on the hill for the Marlins, and he struggled at times, but went 5 2/3 innings, giving up 2 runs on 7 hits while walking 3 and striking out 7. It helped that the Fish played some impressive defense behind Anibal, which was refreshing to see after Sunday's error-fest against the Mets.  

Things got a little rocky for Sanchy in he first inning after he recorded two quick outs to start the game.  Anibal walked Ryan Zimmerman and gave up a single to Adam LaRoche before Michael Morse singled to drive in the run and put the Nats up 1-0.

The Fish had a chance to tie up the score against Jason Marquis in the bottom of the first when Chris Coghlan led off with a double, but bringing him home would have required a hit with a runner in scoring position, and it appears some sort of a ban on those was instated sometime before Sunday's game. 

In the bottom of the second, with the bases safely empty, Logan Morrison tied up the game for the Fish on a solo shot to left, his second long ball of the season. The tie was short-lived, though, when Ryan Zimmerman hit a solo shot of his own to kick off the third inning and put the Nats back on top. 

The Nats kept their lead until the bottom of the seventh. Donnie Murphy doubled and moved to second on Emilio Bonifacio's sac bunt before the Nats made a call to the bullpen. Tyler Clippard entered the game for Marquis, and Greg Dobbs pinch hit for the Marlins, hitting a sac fly to score Murph and tie up the game once more. 

Clay Hensley and Leo Nunez held the Nats scoreless in the eighth and ninth innings, and Edward Mujica tossed a 1-2-3 tenth before the fun began.  

The bottom of the tenth started out with a lucky break for the Fish. What should have been an easy pop out by Omar Infante ended up as an error on Jayson Werth. With Hanley at bat, Drew Storen threw a wild pitch that allowed Infante to advance to second, and the Nationals walked Hanley intentionally. With two on and nobody out, Gaby Sanchez singled and became the first Fish of the night to get a hit with a runner in scoring position. Gaby's hit loaded the bases for Donnie Bleepin' Murphy, and the the rest, as they say, is history. (History that had better be repeated several times today on SportsCenter.) 

Hey, lookie there. The Marlins are at .500.