WASHINGTON -- Wilson Ramos is starting to heat up at the plate, and he is happy to talk about that.

"I feel good," said Ramos, who has a hit in seven straight games.

The Washington Nationals won again Saturday night -- and will go for their fourth series win in a row Sunday -- and Ramos is more than willing to discuss his team.

But don't ask the veteran catcher about the team that the Nationals are chasing in the National League East.

"I don't want to talk about the other team," he said with a smile after the Nationals beat the Miami Marlins 5-1. "We have to win games. I don't care about the other team."

But across the clubhouse, left fielder Clint Robinson, a 30-year-old rookie, freely admitted that he watches the scoreboard and knew the New York Mets lost to the Boston Red Sox before Washington took the field Saturday night.

"Just a good opportunity for us to win a game," said Robinson, one of three Washington hitters to smash a home run Saturday as starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann allowed just one run in seven innings.

First baseman Ryan Zimmerman hit a solo homer in the second, Robinson clubbed a two-run shot to the opposite field in the sixth and shortstop Ian Desmond followed with a long solo homer to center against starter Tom Koehler (8-13), who lost his seventh straight after giving up five runs in six innings.

"He is swinging well," Washington manager Matt Williams said of Zimmerman. "He is driving the ball in the middle of the diamond."

Koehler said of the Robinson homer: "It wasn't as bad of a pitch as I necessarily thought it was. It caught too much of the plate, but he put a great swing on it."

Washington (65-63) moved within 5 1/2 games of first-place New York, which lost earlier in the day to the Boston Red Sox 3-1. The last time that the Nationals gained ground on the Mets was Aug. 19.

"We have to win games. We can't control anything else," Williams said.

The Marlins (52-78) fell to 6-5 overall against Washington this year.

Marlins first baseman Justin Bour, a product of nearby George Mason University in Virginia, smashed a solo homer in the seventh to break up the shutout bid by Zimmermann (11-8). The Washington starter gave up seven hits as he captured his third start in a row.

"My fastball was alive," Zimmermann said. "My slider was pretty good, better than last game. It was good to get the win."

Desmond and third baseman Anthony Rendon had two hits for the Nationals. Desmond has hit 10 homers in his last 37 games.

Nationals reliever Matt Thornton pitched a scoreless eighth and closer Jonathan Papelbon got the last three outs in a non-save situation.

Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon and Koehler each had two hits. Koehler also gave up three homers in his May 6 start at Washington.

Zimmerman hit his 12th homer of the year to give the Nationals a 1-0 lead in the second. It marked the sixth straight game that he had driven in a run.

The Marlins had a great chance to tie the score in the third, but Koehler, who singled with two outs and advanced to third on a double by Gordon, was thrown out at the plate on a pitch that got past Ramos.

The catcher retrieved the ball and threw to Zimmermann, who tagged out Koehler to end the inning with right fielder Ichiro Suzuki at the plate.

"I made a really good throw," Ramos said. "That was a good play."

Koehler said, "I'm slow. I probably shouldn't have gone. But it was a ball that looked like it might have a chance to kick away. I guess I was maybe a little over-excited being on the bases. But then Ichiro leading off the next inning with a hit, it could've been two runs. It could've completely changed the game."

Miami then got singles from Suzuki and third baseman Martin Prado to start the fourth, but Zimmermann retired the next three batters to stymie the threat.

Zimmermann, who threw a no-hitter against the Marlins at home on Sept. 28, was hit hard early but managed to get through five innings without allowing a run, though he yielded six hits -- including the one by Prado that glanced off Zimmermann's glove for an infield single in the fourth.

"He is perfectly fine. And he worked through that inning," Williams said of Zimmermann.

"I thought we had some good at-bats, just missed some balls and hit some balls hard that didn’t fall in for us. But, overall, he located very well and made pitches when he needed to," Marlins manager Dan Jennings said of the Washington starter.

NOTES: Marlins LHP Brad Hand (4-3, 4.23 ERA) will face Washington RHP Stephen Strasburg (8-6, 4.14) in the series finale Sunday. ... Washington OF Bryce Harper (.334) and Marlins INF Dee Gordon (.332) entered play Saturday as the two top hitters in the National League. Gordon led the league in batting average with two outs at .423. ... Washington entered Saturday with four straight losses in one-run games since July 31 and a record of 2-9 in its last 11 games decided by one or two runs. ... The Marlins had 22 road wins through Friday, tied with Philadelphia for the second-lowest amount in the majors. Only Atlanta (21) has less and all three teams are in the same division.