Scherzer's bat helps him to 20th win

Max Scherzer earned his 20th win with his bat as much as his arm as the Nationals dropped the Marlins 10-7.

Scherzer delivered two singles and four RBIs while pitching five innings. His four RBIs turned out to be crucial because he allowed five runs on nine hits. He last won 20 games in 2013, when he went 21-3 with the Tigers.

The Marlins were able to connect in the first two innings off of Scherzer. Martin Prado and Christian Yelich contributed a pair of two-out singles. In the second inning, Justin Bour led off with a base hit.

Tom Koehler struggled with his control in the second, allowing three consecutive walks. Jose Lobaton's sacrifice fly to center field scored Stephen Drew and the Nats led 1-0.

Scherzer helped his own cause with a two-run single up the middle and the Nats led 3-0. Scherzer has a career-high 10 RBIs this season.

The Marlins got on the board in the fourth. After a walk to Bour, former Nats prospect Destin Hood crushed a two-run homer and the Nats led 3-2. The home run was Hood's first major league roundtripper.

Scherzer added another two-run single in the fourth. The Nats led 5-2. The four RBIs are a career high and a Nats record for a pitcher since 2005.

The Marlins countered in the fifth. Tomas Telis hit a two-run shot, his first homer of the season. Later, Yelich raked a run-scoring triple down the right field line to tie the game at 5-5.

The Nats answered again in the bottom of the fifth. Bryce Harper led off with a double against Austin Brice. Drew was hit by a pitch. Harper scored on a groundout fielder's choice by Wilmer Difo to make it 6-5 Nats. Espinosa's homer gave the Nats an 8-5 lead.

Espinosa smacked a two-run shot, walked twice and scored three runs.

Daniel Murphy pinch-hit in the fifth, but flew out to right field. Murphy ended up with a .3465 batting average. Colorado's D.J. LeMahieu hit .3478.

Scherzer finished five innings, allowing five runs on nine hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. He tossed 96 pitches, 62 for strikes.

Sammy Solis struck out pinch-hitter Jeff Francoeur to end a two-run rally by the Marlins in the eighth. Trea Turner added an RBI single for the Nats in the bottom of the eighth.

Spencer Kieboom made his major league debut in that inning, drawing a walk and then scoring on a Ben Revere single to make it 10-7.

Mark Melancon recorded his 47th save to finish off the regular season.