Jose Urena pitches gem, Miami Marlins two-hit Washington Nationals

MIAMI, July 29 (UPI) -- Jose Urena allowed just one hit in six innings, helping the Miami Marlins beat the Washington Nationals 5-0 on Sunday at Marlins Park in Miami.

"The thing today is that I was aggressive," Urena said. "I stayed aggressive on all of my pitches and I think for me that was the difference."

The right-hander also had five strikeouts to earn his third victory of the season. Marlins pitchers combined to allow just two hits to their National League East counterparts.

"It was good from the beginning," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "It looked like he had good stuff today. He was aggressive. It was kind of good to see the old Jose out there."

Urena earned his own run support in the second inning, plating the Marlins' first run with an RBI single to center field. Martin Prado gave the Marlins a 2-0 lead with an RBI double in the bottom of the third inning off of Nationals starter Jeremy Hellickson.

Prado returned to the plate in the bottom of the fifth inning to clobber an RBI single to right field off of Hellickson. J.T. Riddle reached on a fielding error in the next at-bat, scoring J.T. Realmuto. Miguel Rojas connected for an RBI double in the next at-bat, plating Prado for the game's final run.

Adam Conley relieved Urena in the seventh inning and didn't allow a hit in the frame. Brad Ziegler also pitched a perfect eighth inning, before handing the ball to Drew Steckenrider. The Marlins righty allowed the second hit of the game in the final frame to Matt Adams.

Bryce Harper was the only other Nationals player to record a hit. The six-time All-Star hit a single in the first inning off of Urena.

The Marlins and Nationals tied the four-game series 2-2. Miami battles the Atlanta Braves at 7:35 p.m. Monday at SunTrust Park in Atlanta. The Nationals host the New York Mets at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.

"You feel pretty good the way it ended," Mattingly said. "It starts with Trevor [Richards] yesterday giving us that kinda outing. And us able to get some big hits late ... Obviously you face a series like this, you feel better about it. We've been playing pretty good ball. The Nationals really have been a thorn in our side from the standpoint of really getting any momentum going."