The Nationals began the day eight games behind Cincinnati for the second NL wild-card spot. Ohlendorf (3-0) pitched five innings of two-hit ball before Christian Yelich led off the sixth with his second homer, ending the starters outing. It was Ohlendorfs second start since he was sidelined by right s

WASHINGTON -- The Washington Nationals are trying to stay in the playoff race. Jimmy Butler Team USA Jersey . Pitching performances like this one will surely help. Ross Ohlendorf pitched neatly into the sixth inning, Ian Desmond had three hits and the Nationals beat the Miami Marlins 2-1 on Tuesday night. "Nothing like a little laugher," Nationals manager Davey Johnson cracked. Washington kicked off a six-game homestand with its sixth victory in the last seven games. The Nationals began the day eight games behind Cincinnati for the second NL wild-card spot. Ohlendorf (3-0) pitched five innings of two-hit ball before Christian Yelich led off the sixth with his second homer, ending the starters outing. It was Ohlendorfs second start since he was sidelined by right shoulder inflammation. "Hes done that now several times," Johnson said when asked if Ohlendorf hit a wall in the sixth, when his velocity was noticeably lower. "I was kind of ready for it with (Tanner) Roark. He just kind of ran out gas like he did the game before." Roark, Drew Storen and Tyler Clippard each pitched a hitless inning before Rafael Soriano finished the four-hitter for his 34th save. Roark pitched out of trouble in the sixth after walking Giancarlo Stanton and Logan Morrison with one out. Clippard handled the top of Miamis order in the eighth, including three straight swinging strikes against the dangerous Stanton. "I just wanted to get ahead of him and once I threw strike one I wanted to go after him because he was going to be aggressive," Clippard said. "Thats what I did, and he chased a couple of fastballs and I got him." Yelich finished with two hits for Miami, which has lost six of seven. Nathan Eovaldi (2-5) allowed two runs -- both in the first -- and eight hits in six innings. "I thought Eovaldi looked good, he pitched a good game, he gave us a chance to win," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. "The bullpen did a nice job and really had it laid out perfectly. Just didnt score the runs. Four hits, weve kind of seen this story before a few times this year." The Washington victory came in the opener of a stretch of 19 consecutive games against the Marlins, Mets and Phillies, all NL East teams below .500. "Nows the time," Johnson said before the game. "I still think we need to win close to 90 games (to make the playoffs). So every game we need to play well, we need to pitch well." Ohlendorf and the bullpen took care of the pitching, and the lineup did just enough damage in the first. Ryan Zimmerman and Bryce Harper had consecutive one-out singles, putting runners on the corners. Zimmerman scored on Jayson Werths groundout and Desmond singled in Harper to make it 2-0. "Just ran into some trouble in that first inning," said Eovaldi, who is 0-5 with a 4.30 ERA in his last eight starts. "And if I can just avoid that one inning here and there, I feel like Id be a lot better off." Washington totalled seven baserunners after the first, but couldnt add to its run total. All nine Nationals hits were singles. Ohlendorf retired his first nine batters before Yelich singled to start the fourth. Stanton then doubled with one out and Logan Morrison was walked intentionally to load the bases. Ohlendorf then fanned Ed Lucas and got Justin Ruggiano to ground into a fielders choice, ending the threat. "He was great. He made pitches. He threw some good breaking balls," Johnson said. NOTES: Denard Span and Harper extended their hitting streaks to 10 and nine games, respectively. ... The Nationals recalled RHP Ryan Mattheus from Triple-A Syracuse and optioned LHP Xavier Cedeno to their top farm club. ... Redmond said RHP Jose Fernandez has two or three starts remaining before the club shuts the 21-year-old down. Fernandez has thrown 152 2-3 innings and could approach his team-imposed 170-inning limit during his next two starts. ... Johnson said an X-ray of LF Harpers left foot was negative after he fouled a ball off his leg on Sunday. ... Johnson said "probably not" when asked if LHP Ross Detwiler, on the DL since early July with a back strain, will return before the end of the season. Detwiler has begun playing catch, but hasnt thrown off the mound. ... The Marlins reinstated INF Placido Polanco from the 7-day concussion DL. ... Miami RHP Henderson Alvarez (2-3, 3.86 ERA) opposes Stephen Strasburg (6-9, 3.00 ERA) in Wednesdays game. Larry Bird Team USA Jersey . With the final four being arguably the four best – and most complete – teams from the regular season, picking a winner is not as easy as it sounds. Magic Johnson Team USA Jersey . Rockies manager Walt Weiss was unhappy, too. Weiss addressed the issue in a 15-minute meeting with his pitcher and catcher after the Rockies gave up 14 hits and lost 10-1. De La Rosa lasted only 4 1-3 innings and allowed five runs in his first opening-day start. http://www.teamusaolympicsshop.us/Olympics-Patrick-Ewing-Usa-Jersey/ . Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves to backstop the Penguins to a 2-1 victory over the Flames, handing Calgary its team record sixth consecutive home regulation loss.Detroit, MI (Sports Network) - Detroit Red Wings forward Patrick Eaves will miss 2-to-4 weeks with a sprained left ankle and medial collateral ligament. Red Wings GM Ken Holland told the Free Press the news on Friday, one day after the paper revealed that Eaves took a bad fall during practice at Jooe Louis Arena and had to be helped off the ice by several teammates. David Robinson Team USA Jersey. . The 29-year-old Boston College product played in 34 games last season, totaling just two goals and six assists. Eaves had missed the majority of the 2011-12 season while recovering from a concussion. 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