On a night when the Marlins committed four errors and watched a two-run ninth-inning lead disappear, Wes Helms provided late heroics with his ninth-inning single to center field, elevating the Marlins to a 6-5 win over the Nationals in front of 18,944 at Dolphin Stadium on Saturday night.

Florida's third walk-off win of the season came after Dan Uggla walked with one out and Josh Willingham was intentionally walked by reliever Saul Rivera. On a 0-1 pitch, Helms ripped a single to center, scoring Uggla to end the Marlins' two-game losing streak.

Helms was recently acquired from the Phillies to provide leadership in the clubhouse, while also being a situational player. He entered in the eighth inning as a pinch-runner for Mike Jacobs, who had a big game with three hits and two RBIs. Helms remained at first base and delivered in the clutch.

The Marlins are now 3-2 on the homestand, and they are in position to take the series from the Nationals on Sunday.

In 2006, Helms held the same role as he does now on the young Florida squad. Back then, the team got off to a rough start, falling 20 games under .500 in May of that year.

Now the Marlins are a more confident squad.

"The biggest thing I see in these guys is, they are more mature," Helms said. "We came in the bottom of the ninth, and we were cheering, 'Let's go. Let's get it back.' It's a lot easier when you are tied than down."

For the second straight night, the Marlins rallied from three down early to grab the lead and then watch it disappear. This time, they were able to celebrate at home plate.

"But you see this team, they never give up," Helms said. "Even last night, we never gave up. We did a great job [of not giving up] in '06, but I'm seeing a lot more maturity now. A lot of these guys have two or three years under their belt. If you possess this attitude this early, I feel we can do a lot of good things this year. I see that attitude in these guys. We've got to keep pushing that attitude and not lose it. We've got to keep that focus."

For Uggla, it was a nice two-hit bounce-back night during a time in which he's been struggling. He had been 1-for-13 in the homestand before contributing an RBI double and single on Saturday. In the ninth, Uggla drew a leadoff walk after falling behind two strikes in the count.

Uggla, a rookie in 2006, noted that being able to win on nights when things get a little sloppy was big.

"These games right now are what is going to impact you in September," Uggla said. "We let a lot of games slip away in April and May the last two years. It really affected us in September."

After Marlins left-handed reliever Renyel Pinto tossed three shutout innings, allowing just one hit while throwing 36 pitches, closer Kevin Gregg watched a 5-3 lead in the ninth disappear.

Hanley Ramirez's error on Cristian Guzman's grounder to short to start the inning opened the door for two unearned runs. Mike Rabelo's passed ball advanced Guzman, Nick Johnson drew a one-out walk and a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position. With two outs and with the count full, Austin Kearns' two-run single tied it.

"It wasn't a real pretty game, but we got it done," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "We battled, stayed in there and the bullpen did a terrific job to help us win the ballgame."

Pinto now has thrown 11 straight scoreless innings. Reliever Logan Kensing also provided two scoreless innings on Saturday.

The Marlins were able to get to Nats right-hander Shawn Hill, who was making his first start of the season, in the sixth inning. Down by two at the time, Willingham tripled and scored on Jacobs' single to center. A double by Jorge Cantu put runners on second and third, and Hill was replaced by reliever Jesus Colome. A sacrifice fly by Cody Ross tied it, and Rabelo's slow roller, which was bobbled by Nats second baseman Felipe Lopez, scored Jacobs with the go-ahead run.

Uncharacteristically wild, Marlins starter Burke Badenhop issued five walks, while scattering four hits with four strikeouts. In the first inning, he yielded one run on Johnson's RBI groundout, but he rolled up 30 pitches.

The Nationals tacked on two runs in the third inning with two-out RBI singles from Wily Mo Pena and Johnny Estrada. Badenhop exited with 80 pitches.

"No jitters, it was really a lack of command," Badenhop said. "It is puzzling to me as it is for probably everybody else. I wasn't trying to be too fine.

"If we get the starting pitching [going], and I hope to be part of that group, I think we can be really good, because our bullpen really picked us up."