NL East Wrap: Marlins top Nats, Mets beat Astros

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Saturday, May 14, 2011
Posted: 7:35 p.m.

The Associated Press
Marlins 1, Nationals 0

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WASHINGTON -- Anibal Sanchez shut down Washington once again, allowing just three hits in eight innings, and Mike Stanton hit a long home run Saturday to lead the Florida Marlins over the Nationals 1-0.

Stanton's seventh homer of the season came in the seventh. The Marlins held on to win their eighth straight game at Washington.

Marlins closer Leo Nunez gave up a walk and a single to start the ninth, then escaped the first-and-second jam for his 14th save in 14 chances.

Sanchez (3-1) struck out nine and walked two. He improved to 7-0 lifetime against the Nationals with a 1.99 ERA.

Last week in his previous start, Sanchez held the Nationals hitless until the seventh inning and struck out a career-high 11. He dominated them this time, too, allowing only Laynce Nix's second-inning single, Jayson Werth's double in the seventh and Roger Bernadina's single in the eighth.

After Nix's single, Sanchez (3-1) retired the next 14 batters before walking Bernadina with two outs in the sixth. Werth doubled to lead off the seventh -- he had just two hits and struck out 19 times in his first 24 at-bats against Sanchez.

Mets 6, Astros 4

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HOUSTON -- David Wright does not like taking days off.

After the way he came through Friday night, the New York Mets star had to admit an occasional rest is probably a good thing.

Wright homered for the first time since April 24, hitting a go-ahead shot to cap a four-run eighth inning that rallied the Mets to a 6-4 victory over the Houston Astros.

It was the sixth home run of the season for the slumping Wright, given a day off Thursday in Colorado to rest a sore neck and back -- one day after New York's game against the Rockies was postponed by inclement weather.

"When you look at the big picture, it's probably good and it's probably beneficial for the long run," Wright said. "It's just that when you get in the heat of the moment you don't want to take those days ... (but) I think it's good to kind of recharge the battery."

Wright's two-run shot was the last of three late homers by the Mets that helped them overcome a 4-0 deficit for their sixth win in eight games.

New York manager Terry Collins said Friday's performance confirmed that he did the right thing by keeping Wright out of the lineup for the first time all season Thursday.

"It tells me that this guy needs a break every now and then because he plays the game as hard as anybody in the league," Collins said. "And when you run him out there 30-something times in a row, he is going to run out of gas a little bit."

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