Tue Jul 1 11:33:57 2008

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Marlins' Hendrickson hopes to rebound in matchup with Nats

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(Sports Network) - Southpaw Mark Hendrickson faces the Washington Nationals for the second time this season when the Florida Marlins host their National League East division rivals tonight in game two of a three-game series at Miami's Dolphin Stadium.

A 34-year-old product of Washington State University, Hendrickson has dropped four straight decisions and is winless in six starts since defeating the San Francisco Giants on May 25.

He was beaten, 6-1, by the Tampa Bay Rays in his last start on Thursday and has allowed 37 hits and 31 earned runs in 28 innings over the winless skid.

Hendrickson is 1-1 in six appearances (4 starts) in his career against the Nationals.

For Washington, towering right-hander Collin Balester makes his major-league debut tonight.

A 6-foot-5, 194-pound native of Huntington Beach, California, Balester turned 22 years old on June 6. He was a fourth-round selection by the Washington franchise out of high school in the 2004 draft.

In 15 starts with Triple-A Columbus this season, Balester has compiled a 9-3 record and a 4.00 earned run average.

In Monday's opener of this set, Josh Willingham's leadoff home run in the bottom of the 10th inning lifted the Marlins to a 6-5 win over the Nationals.

Washington's Jon Rauch came on to protect a 5-4 lead in the ninth and couldn't get the job done, as the closer surrendered a one-out game-tying homer to Hanley Ramirez.

It was the second straight outing Ramirez hit a game-tying solo home run in the ninth inning. On Sunday, Ramirez homered off Arizona's Brandon Lyon to knot the score at 3-3. Jorge Cantu singled in Jeremy Hermida later in the inning to give the Marlins a 4-3 win.

Willingham jumped on a first-pitch slider from Rauch in the 10th and drove it over the left-field wall for his third career game-ending home run. The left fielder also belted a two-run homer for the Marlins, who have won three of their last four.

Robert Andino finished 2-for-4 and knocked in a run for Florida, which is a half-game behind the idle Philadelphia Phillies for first place in the NL East.

Ryan Tucker gave up four runs on six hits and struck out six in a five-inning start for the Marlins. Doug Waechter allowed one run in 2 1/3 innings of relief. Kevin Gregg (6-2) picked up the win after tossing a scoreless top of the 10th.

Elijah Dukes and Dmitri Young each hit a solo home run for Washington, which has lost two of three. Cristian Guzman, Willie Harris and Paul Lo Duca each had two hits, with Guzman and Harris driving in a run.

Washington starter Tim Redding allowed four runs on eight hits and fanned six over five-plus innings. Rauch (4-2) blew his fifth save of the season.

Florida has dominated the 2008 season series with the Nats, having won nine of the 10 matchups. The Marlins are also 11-1 in their last 12 games against Washington.