Ryan Zimmerman’s 9th inning home run on Sunday ended the Washington Nationals eight game losing streak and gave the Anacostia Nine a come from behind 5-4 win at Nationals Park. Knotted up at 2-2 in the top of the 9th, reliever Mike “Heart Attack” MacDougal let the game get away from him, giving the Marlins a 4-2 edge, with Phish righty Leo “lights out” Nunez entering the game to close it out. But in the bottom of the ninth Willie “Wee Willie”  Harris led off the Nats end of the game by pumping his fifth home run into the second deck in right field to pull the home towners within one. His upper deck powerhouse was followed by a Cristian Guzman hustling infield hit with Ryan Zimmerman coming to the plate. Dan Uggla went far to his right to get the Guzman hit, but could’t reach it in time to throw out Guzman, who was called safe at first. Zimmerman then stroked a 1-1 pitch into the centerfield boxes to give the Nats their first win in ten days,  a stunner that sent the Marlins packing to New York without the sweep they needed.

Until the ninth, the heroes of the game were hard luck pitcher J.D. Martin, who pitched 6.2 solid innings, and Elijah Dukes, who was two for two with a walk. Dukes ended up on base four times. Dukes has raised his average to .260 — but, more importantly, he seems more calm and focused at the plate and in the field, a good sign for next year.  Dukes also had an early game scoop of a Marlins sure hit to short right field, a sign of the former Rays’ renewed confidence in the outfield. The win against the Marlins not only ends the Nats eight game skid, in which the Washington club seemed to be unable to score runs when they most needed them, it improved their walk-off prowess against the South Florida Nine. The Nats now have seven walk off wins against the Phish, who are straining to win the wild card race against the fading Chops, as well as the Rockies and Giants. The Marlins will continue their pursuit of the first spot in the wild card against Tim Redding and the Mets at Citi Field on Tuesday in New York, while the Nats will also take a day off before sending John Lannan to the hill to face Pedro Martinez and the ever-surging Phuzzies at Nationals Park.