MIAMI -- No walk-off drama was needed on Sunday for the Marlins. Instead, they relied on Hanley Ramirez's power and Scott Olsen's brilliant seven-inning start to topple the Nationals, 6-1, at Dolphin Stadium.

Giving the bullpen a needed reprieve, Olsen stepped up with another prime outing, giving up one run in seven innings. He has now lasted at least seven innings in three straight starts.

Ramirez connected on two homers to center field to break the game open.

After losing on Friday night, the Marlins rebounded to take the final two games of the series, and they completed their homestand at 4-2.

"Getting off to a good start is something the past two years we haven't done," said Olsen, who has won three straight decisions. "Last year and 2006, it caught up to us in September. These games are important right now. They go down in the standings, too. To take two in the series is a lot of fun."

The Marlins have gone more than a year -- 199 games, to be exact -- without a starter tossing a complete game. Manager Fredi Gonzalez said Olsen is "real close" to being ready to go the distance.

Three starts ago, Olsen threw 120 pitches. He tossed 98 on Sunday.

"A lot of scenarios have to happen," Olsen said of tossing nine innings. "If it's a 1-0 game, I'm not going to be out there, because we've got bullpen guys to take care of that.

"If we've got a three- or four-run lead, my pitch count will have to be low. A lot of factors have to go into it."

Olsen said 120 pitches is about it for him. Asked if he could throw 130, he replied immediately: "Oh, God no. [Throwing 120] is probably the limit."

A new approach for Olsen this season is tempo. He's working fast and staying focused. He maintains that the more time he has between pitches, the worse off he will be.

"He's locked in," Gonzalez said. "Hopefully, he will keep it going. This umpire behind the plate, Tim McClelland, he's the Major League's best umpire in terms of balls and strikes. He's not going to give you pitches that are not strikes.

"I thought that he would rattle [Olsen] a little bit. But he threw strikes, and I don't even have as many adjectives to say about him. Put whatever you'd like and put my name on it."

Nationals left-hander Odalis Perez was effective in six innings, allowing an unearned run while striking out seven. But in the seventh, he was replaced by reliever Luis Ayala. Ramirez greeted the Washington right-hander by jumping on his first pitch, and the Florida shortstop crushed a 431-foot homer to center.

The raw talent of Ramirez, mixed in with a bizarre two-run wild pitch, resulted in the Marlins scoring four times off Nats reliever Saul Rivera in the eighth. With the bases full and two outs, Rivera threw a wild pitch with Ramirez at the plate. Jorge Cantu and Cody Ross scored on the play, the second on catcher Johnny Estrada's error.

The wild pitch, which bounced off the back screen and back toward home plate, easily scored Cantu from third base. But Estrada couldn't field the carom cleanly, so Ross, who was on second, also raced home.

Three pitches later, Ramirez laced a two-run homer to center.

For Ramirez, it was his fifth career multi-homer game, his first since Sept. 11, 2007, against Washington. His second drive was 427 feet.

"That's our superstar," Olsen said of Ramirez.

Ramirez's two homers gave the offense a boost, and secured the Marlins' fifth win in six meetings with the Nationals this season.

"I feel good, but I'm more excited that we won the game," the 24-year-old shortstop said. "I'm excited for Olsen, because he got his third win."

Olsen held the Nationals without a hit, and he limited them to one walk through four innings. But to open the fifth, Austin Kearns connected on a 1-2 pitch and deposited a 419-foot homer to left, tying the game at 1.

The Marlins pushed across an unearned run in the first inning. Dan Uggla advanced to second on third baseman Ryan Zimmerman's throwing error. Jeremy Hermida's RBI single to center gave Olsen an early lead to work with.

In the eighth inning, reliever Justin Miller yielded a leadoff double to Aaron Boone. The Nationals had Boone on third with one out, but Marlins left-hander Taylor Tankersley entered the game and struck out Nick Johnson and Felipe Lopez to end the threat. On Friday night, Johnson lined a three-run double off Tankersley that produced the game-winning runs for Washington.

"On this team here, if something bad happens, you're going back out there the next time," Gonzalez said. "There is no doghouse here."

Tankersley, who fanned Johnson and Lopez on sliders, changed up his pitch selection with Johnson to prevent the Nationals from tying the game.

"It was awesome today to come in to face the same hitter who got the best of me two days ago," Tankersley said. "And for me to get him out, that shows me that Fredi has confidence in me to go in there and get outs, no matter who it is.

"I have confidence in myself, and to know the manager and the coaching staff are behind me, gives me even that much more confidence."