Rendon homers to help cap sweep

Nats move to season-best 4 games above .500 mark

WASHINGTON — Manager Dave Martinez gave Anthony Rendon the option of sitting out a late-morning start after a night game.

The All-Star third baseman told Martinez he wanted to play, and he made the most of it.

Rendon hit his 20th homer and knocked in the go-ahead run to help the Washington Nationals finish a three-game sweep of the last-place Miami Marlins with a 5-2 victory Thursday.

Selected for the NL All-Star team for the first time in his seventh season, Rendon is considering pulling out of next week’s festivities in Cleveland to nurse some bumps and bruises. At the plate and in the field, Rendon looked no worse for wear.

“He’s a professional,” Martinez said. “He’s the constant in our lineup that makes things go, and you saw that today.”

Washington has won eight of nine and 13 of 16 to climb to a season-best four games over .500.

Kurt Suzuki homered in the second inning to extend the Montreal Expos/ Nationals franchise record for consecutive games with a home run to 18. Rendon hit a solo shot in the fourth off Elieser Hernandez (1-3) and drove in Gerardo Parra with a single in the fifth.

Parra, the newcomer responsible for sparking the Nationals’ dugout home run celebrations, drove in two insurance runs with a double in the sixth, creating some key rest for Washington’s most-used relievers.

“Obviously multi-run homers are better,” Suzuki said. “But having those big two-out RBIs like Parra had today, that’s the backbreaker. They walk Trea (Turner) to get to Parra with the lefty and he smokes a double. That’s the dagger right there.”

Reliever Javy Guerra escaped a basesloaded jam in the eighth, and 42-year-old Fernando Rodney rode the bullpen cart and hit 99 mph on the radar gun while earning his second save of the season.

“Sometimes you have to put something extra on the hitter and let him know,” Rodney said.

Washington right-hander Anibal Sanchez (5-6) allowed one earned run and five hits in six innings. He hasn’t lost since returning from the injured list in late May.