Washington ? That confounding, high-kick delivery. That flat-brimmed cap. That “Gee, this is fun!” smile.

Now Dontrelle Willis can add “20-game winner” to his list of trademarks – just like his boyhood idol, Dave Stewart.

Willis became the first pitcher in Marlins history to collect 20 victories in a season, allowing four hits and a run over six innings to help Florida beat the Washington Nationals, 12-1, Wednesday night in a game between clubs chasing Houston in the NL wild-card race.

“I’m dumbfounded right now, very ecstatic just because of how my teammates felt for me today. They were pulling for me,” said Willis, who had a celebratory beer poured on his head by closer Todd Jones.

“I’m kind of breathtaken. It’s historic. It’s a beautiful thing, not only for baseball, but for my team. Hopefully we’ll just keep going.”

Willis improved to 20-8 with a 2.52 earned-run average, tying St. Louis’ Chris Carpenter (20-4) for the major-league lead in wins. Willis walked three and struck out three; the only run he gave up was on Rick Short’s first major-league homer, in the sixth.

Padres 4, Rockies 2

San Diego – Mark Loretta homered and scored twice, and Adam Eaton won his 10th game for NL West-leading San Diego.

Braves 4, Mets 3 (10)

Atlanta – Ryan Langerhans hit a two-out, two-run single in the 10th inning, and Atlanta rallied twice to complete a three-game sweep of New York.

Astros 8, Phillies 6

Philadelphia – Craig Biggio hit a three-run homer off Billy Wagner with two outs in the ninth inning, and Houston completed a three-game sweep.

Cubs 2, Cardinals 1

St. Louis – Greg Maddux threw 52â3 scoreless innings, and Chicago got just enough off Mark Mulder early.

D’backs 4, Pirates 2

Pittsburgh – Brandon Webb allowed two runs over seven innings and had an RBI single.

Brewers 14, Reds 5

Cincnnati – Rookie J.J. Hardy hit his first grand slam and set a career high with four hits, and Milwaukee had its best day at the plate in four years.

Dodgers 9, Giants 8

Los Angeles – Oscar Robles hit a tying two-run homer, and Mike Edwards delivered a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the ninth.