Hanley Ramirez extended his RBI streak to 10 games, pinch-hitter Wes Helms beat out a potential double-play ball to put Florida ahead in the eighth inning and the Marlins remained unbeaten against the Washington Nationals this year with a 5-3 Wednesday.

Cody Ross hit his 14th home run and added an RBI single in the eighth for Florida, which improved to 9-0 against Washington this season and 25-3 against the Nationals since September 2007. Ramirez hit a two-run double for the Marlins, making him the first shortstop in NL history with an RBI streak of double-digit games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Josh Willingham was 2 for 4 with a two-run single for Washington, which stranded 13 runners. With the score 3-3 and the bases loaded in the eighth, Helms' roller up the middle was snared by a diving Alberto Gonzalez, who flipped to Ronnie Belliard at second to force Dan Uggla. But Belliard's throw wasn't in time to get Helms, and Ramirez scored to give Florida the lead.

Dan Meyer (2-0), one of six Florida pitchers, got the win after working two-thirds of an inning. Leo Nunez pitched the ninth, getting his fourth save in seven chances.

Florida starter Josh Johnson failed to get out of the fourth inning, his shortest appearance in 34 starts dating to June 23, 2007. Johnson yielded one run and five hits in 3 1-3 innings, with four walks and three strikeouts, and only 49 of his 89 pitches went for strikes.