WASHINGTON (AP) -- When Dontrelle Willis is on the mound, the

Florida Marlins don't need much help.

They got some, anyway, from the Washington Nationals, whose

five-game winning streak ended Monday night thanks to a combination

of their own miscues, Willis' wizardry, and Florida's suddenly

potent offense.

Willis extended his season-opening shutout streak to 24 innings

before giving up three runs in the seventh, a half-inning after

Florida batted around to build a big lead en route to a 9-4 victory

over NL East leader Washington.

Willis must have been pleased, right? Not exactly.

"Regardless of how I'm doing, I want to stay in the game,"

Willis said. "I don't care if they are making a run at me or not.

I didn't want to come out of that game."

Bidding to become the first pitcher to start a year with three

complete-game shutouts since Luis Tiant in 1966 -- back when the

Senators were still in D.C. -- Willis (3-0, 1.12 ERA) sailed

through six innings, allowing just two hits.

"He's got an awkward, unorthodox delivery, and he has great

movement on his ball," Washington catcher Gary Bennett said.

Popping gum, tugging on his flat brim and using that high leg

kick, Willis was as impressive as he was in a five-hitter against

Washington on April 8 and a three-hitter against Philadelphia on

April 13.

"Why he dominates us, I don't know," Nationals manager Frank

Robinson said. "Going against a guy like Willis, you can't afford

to give runs away and give him the lead."

That's precisely what Washington did. The Marlins went up 2-0 in

the fifth with a solitary single and an assortment of help: two

four-pitch walks, an error and a passed ball. Bennett was busy in

his second start of the season; he threw out two would-be

base-stealers in the first, threw out another runner in the third,

had two errors plus the passed ball, hit a double and was hit by a

pitch.

"We didn't come out and do the little things tonight. We made a

couple of mental mistakes," outfielder Brad Wilkerson said. "When

you give them extra outs out there, it's going to be tough to beat

them."

It was the kind of help Florida's offense has needed of late.

The Marlins came in ranked ninth in the NL in runs and scored just

12 over their preceding four games.

"We're going to come around," Willis said. "You definitely

see the consistency in the last couple days."

The visitors tacked on another two runs in the sixth with

back-to-back doubles by Miguel Cabrera and Juan Encarnacion, who

moved to third on a wild pitch by Tomo Ohka (1-2) and came home on

Paul Lo Duca's sacrifice fly. Ohka allowed five walks, six hits and

four runs -- three earned -- in five-plus innings.

And then came the seventh -- the inning in which the Nationals

had bat-around breakouts the previous two games. This time, the

Marlins strung together six consecutive hits off Joe Horgan with

two outs to increase a 4-0 edge to 9-0.

Luis Castillo, who walked four times, started it with a single

to right. Carlos Delgado followed with a double. Cabrera singled

and Encarnacion, Mike Lowell and Lo Duca all doubled.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Just like that, the Marlins were in control --

and the Nationals' fans were silent for the first time during the

city's first major league homestand in 34 years. They finally made

some noise when Alex Gonzalez's groundout ended the inning.

"They've got a good lineup," Horgan said, "but it doesn't

matter what lineup you're facing if you don't throw pitches."

After waiting out the long top half, Willis was far less

intimidating in the seventh. He faced four batters without

recording an out, including Jose Vidro's homer to left. But the

underworked Marlins bullpen -- the team leads the majors with five

complete games -- finished up, with Antonio Alfonseca, Matt Perisho,

Nate Bump and Jim Mecir getting the final nine outs.

All that against a Nationals team that entered the game with a

.473 team slugging percentage, second in the majors.

After earning Rookie of the Year honors and helping the Marlins

win the World Series in 2003, Willis took a step back last season,

going 10-11 with a 4.02 ERA.

"For the most part, he's got a better grip on pitching -- how to

get hitters out," manager Jack McKeon said. "He's much more

focused."Game notes
A night after going 6-for-13, Juan Pierre, Castillo and

Delgado -- the Marlins' top three hitters -- went 5-for-11, plus

Castillo's walks. ... Nationals SS Cristian Guzman went 0-for-3,

dropping his average to .106 (5-for-47).