Harper homers again, but Scherzer labors (Nats lose 5-1)

MIAMI - Bryce Harper took Tom Koehler deep yet again. Unfortunately for the Nationals, somebody took Max Scherzer deep yet again, too, leaving them in an early hole and leaving Scherzer in a heap of trouble.

Harper blasted a solo home run off Koehler in the top of the first inning of this afternoon's series finale at Marlins Park, sending the first pitch he saw over the recently shortened fence in center field.

It was Harper's eighth homer of the season, temporarily leaving him tied with Rockies rookie Trevor Story for the major league lead. It was his sixth homer in his last eight games. And it raised his RBI total to a major league-best 22 (this is only the Nats' 15th game of the season).

It also was Harper's sixth career homer in 27 at-bats against Koehler, the most he has hit vs. any big league pitcher to date in his career.

Harper's blast gave the Nationals an early 1-0 lead, but it didn't last long. Scherzer immediately got into trouble in the bottom of the first, putting two on with one out and then serving up a towering, three-run homer to Marcell Ozuna on an inside fastball.

It took Scherzer 31 pitches to complete his first inning, then another 23 to get through the second. The Marlins plated another run off him via Martin Prado's RBI single to left-center and were in position to score more before Christian Yelich grounded into an inning-ending double play to bail out Scherzer.

Scherzer settled down in the third, retiring the side on only 11 pitches, an encouraging sign on an afternoon where the Nationals need more out of their starter. Yusmeiro Petit is unavailable after throwing four innings of relief last night, leaving the club without a true long man in their bullpen for this one.

Update: Just when it looked like Scherzer had figured things out, he reverted back to form in the fifth. He had retired seven in a row and completed the third and fourth innings on a total of 21 pitches. But then the Marlins struck again in the fifth, thanks to another pesky at-bat from Ichiro Suzuki (he has fouled off nine total pitches today, seven of them with two strikes) that ended in a leadoff single, another hit from Prado and then a two-out, RBI double by Justin Bour. Scherzer escaped a bases-loaded jam without any more damage, but he has given up five runs in five innings, with a pitch count of 99.

The Nats lineup, meanwhile, has been silent for some time, with no hits on the board since Wilson Ramos' infield single in the second. Koehler has kept them off-balance, inducing weak contact, but he's done after only five innings and 85 pitchs. With Harper leading off the sixth, Don Mattingly is taking no chances and summoning lefty Craig Breslow from his bullpen in a 5-1 game.

Update II: It remains 5-1 after seven innings, the Nats lineup unable to do anything against Koehler or relievers Craig Breslow and Kyle Barraclough. They have produced only two hits today: Harper's first-inning homer and Ramos' second-inning infield single (which could have been ruled an error based on shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria's bounced throw to first).

Matt Belisle did take over for Scherzer in the sixth and delivered two perfect innings, at least keeping the deficit where it has stood since the fifth.

Update III: That's it, Nats lose 5-1 in a dud of a ballgame. Haper's first-inning homer accounted for all of their offense. Scherzer dug them into an early hole. And not a whole lot else that happened after that mattered a ton.

So, the Nationals head home after splitting this four-game series. They're 11-4 overall, heading into their first interleague series of the season, with the Twins coming to D.C. this weekend.