Todd Walker drove in two runs for the second straight game to help rookie left-hander Marshall secure the 5-0 victory on Wednesday night over the Washington Nationals.

The Cubs have now won two in a row for the first time since April 24-25.

"It seems like a long time," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said when asked if he remembered the last time they had won consecutive games. "Hopefully, we can just keep winning."

Marshall (3-1) was effective from the very start. The rookie gave up one hit and four walks over six scoreless innings while striking out six. He was coming off the worst start of his young career, in which he served up nine runs on nine hits and five walks over 3 2/3 innings against the Giants.

"The last game, I struggled getting the ball down and those guys punished me," Marshall said. "Today, I got that run support early, and there's nothing like pitching with the lead. It makes you feel comfortable, and you can go after guys."

Against the Nationals, Marshall faced the minimum over the first three innings. Alfonso Soriano notched the first hit for Washington when he led off the sixth with a clean single to left field.

"That's the toughest thing to do at this level is bounce back, because you have more things to think about," Walker said of Marshall. "He's impressive and threw the ball well tonight."

Marshall also has developed a pregame ritual of eating a steak and salad for lunch on game days, and then tops it off with a bratwurst later in the day. Whatever works. More important was his ability to change speeds in different counts.

"It's just a matter of me building up [my] confidence, to be able to have command of all my pitches," Marshall said. "I pitched pretty good with my changeup today. My fastball wasn't as good as it has been."

Bob Howry, Scott Williamson and Scott Eyre combined with Marshall on the one-hitter, the first by Cubs pitchers since Mark Prior, Jerome Williams and Ryan Dempster did it on June 26, 2005, against the Chicago White Sox.

It's also the first time the Cubs have posted back-to-back shutouts since June 26 vs. the White Sox and on June 28 at Wrigley Field against Milwaukee.

The Cubs were able to do the little things as well.

"It starts with starting pitching," Baker said. "If you're not giving up anything, you can play that kind of [small] ball. The main thing is getting two great games by your starting pitcher back-to-back. Hopefully, this can become contagious to everybody."

Juan Pierre led off with a bunt single, stole second, he advanced on Matt Murton's grounder and then scored on third baseman Ryan Zimmerman's fielding error.

"It's important, especially for the pitcher to go out with a lead," Pierre said. "That's the blueprint. It hasn't gone that way so far this year, but it's a good time to get started and get rolling."

Jacque Jones doubled to open the Chicago second against Zach Day (2-4), advanced on Jerry Hairston Jr.'s sacrifice and scored on Ronny Cedeno's bunt single. Marshall singled, and one out later, Murton walked to load the bases. Walker followed with a two-run single to make it 4-0.

Walker, batting third for the injured Derrek Lee, had two RBIs in 16 games before he drove in a pair in Tuesday's 4-0 win.

"Hopefully, the last two games are a good sign that things are about to change for me and for the team," Walker said.

Pinch-hitter Freddie Bynum led off the Cubs sixth inning with his first Major League home run.

"I thought I was going to fall coming around third," Bynum said. "I couldn't feel my legs."

He was running towards second base before he saw that the ball had landed in the basket rimming along the left field bleachers.

"That's what I do, I hit them and run hard until someone tells me otherwise," Bynum said.

One other thing fans need to keep an eye on is Pierre's uniform.

"The dirtier my uniform is, the better I'm playing," he said. "My uniform's been clean pretty much this season, so I'm definitely trying to get it dirty. That's what I try to bring to the table, get on base and get it started early and have the rest of the offense follow."

It worked on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The game was not without its mishaps. Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez had to leave the game after three innings with a mild strain of his lower back, which he wrenched on a swing. His status is listed as day-to-day.

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.