Nationals ride homers, Scherzer to victory in Miami (updated)

There are any number of reasons you can point to for why the Nationals have won or lost a ballgame this season, but here's a simple one to consider: When they hit a home run, they usually win. When they don't, they usually don't.

And when they clear the fence twice in the same inning, as they did today during a 5-1 win over the Marlins? Well, that's about as good a piece of evidence as you'll get to foretell a Nats victory.

Trea Turner and Josh Bell provided the big blows in this one, each going to the opposite field for a two-run homer during a sixth-inning rally that broke open a tight game in Miami and put the visitors on top for good.

That four-run inning provided all the support Max Scherzer needed on a day in which he allowed only one run but needed 102 pitches to complete six innings. Three relievers finished the job for him and secured a four-game series split for the Nationals, not to mention the Nats' 11th win 14 games heading into a tough homestand against the Mets, Rays and Dodgers.

"I don't care about your solo shots. I want your two-run shots," Scherzer said afterward in his Zoom session with reporters. "Those guys were good today and hit some two-run shots."

The Nats did lose Victor Robles after he was struck by a pitch on the inside of his right knee in the top of the seventh, leaving the young center fielder limping around and unable to run well enough to remain in the game. Manager Davey Martinez said X-rays were negative and Robles has been diagnosed with a contusion, but he probably will still be sore Monday, leaving his status for the game in question.

But this contest was defined by that sudden power surge in the top of the sixth by two of the team's best power hitters. Unable to make much of a dent into Marlins right-hander Sandy Alcantara for most of the afternoon, Turner and Bell finally got to him before his outing was complete.

The rally began with a walk from Kyle Schwarber, who for the second straight day didn't homer, but did reach base three times and scored twice in a more traditional performance for a leadoff hitter. Moments later, Turner drove a 97 mph fastball from Alcantara to right, a 400-foot shot to the opposite field for his 12th homer of the year, but only his second in six weeks.

"I feel like at times during the series, I haven't had much to hit, and when I have, I've missed them," Turner said. "It just came down to that at-bat, not missing a pitch I should hit, and it went out."

Juan Soto followed with a chopper to third that bounced so high Jon Berti didn't have a play on him, and that set the stage for Bell to mash a 95 mph fastball 419 feet to left-center for his 11th homer of the season and second towering shot to the opposite field during this road trip.

So it was the Nationals continued a season-long trend of winning with the longball. They're now 31-16 when they homer - 16-7 when they homer twice - compared to 6-22 when they don't leave the yard.

"I'd say we should try to hit one every day then," Martinez said. "Somebody. We've got a lot of guys that can hit the ball out of the park and the stats show that. The guys in between, those guys work good at-bats and get on base. And these guys that are supposed to drive the ball out and hit home runs in a big moment, that's what you're going to get."

A couple of hours earlier, the Nats generated some instant offense in the top of the first, as they've so often done in the last two weeks. But while Schwarber scored the run, he did not do it entirely on his own for the first time in a while.

Schwarber did scorch a ball 115 mph off Alcantara, but did so on the ground. No matter, because third baseman Berti (shifted around to the right side of the infield) couldn't handle the hot shot and was charged with a game-opening error. And when Josh Harrison lined a two-out single to left later in the inning, the Nats had themselves a 1-0 lead.

Scherzer, though, didn't make that quick lead hold up for more than a few minutes. For the second straight day, Jazz Chisholm Jr. led off the bottom of the first with a triple, this one caroming off the wall in left-center and forcing Schwarber to retreat to pick it up. Two batters later, Jesús Aguilar roped a double down the left field line, and that tied the game at 1-1.

Scherzer would labor early, needing 41 pitches to complete his first two innings, but it didn't take long for him to find his groove. He completed his next three frames on a total of 34 pitches, and that kept his overall total more than manageable as the game progressed into the later innings.

"Innings three, four, five were big," he said. "Just to be able to go out there and throw strikes. The pitch count was running a little bit high and I had to get that back under control. I also feel like that's a momentum thing. The more often I can have quick innings and get our hitters back, it keeps them in rhythm at the plate. When they're at the bat rack, they always feel good."

The veteran ace would run into trouble again in the sixth, issuing a pair of walks (his only two during the game) and driving his pitch count up. But perhaps sensing the finish line directly in front of him, he struck out Jorge Alfaro and Berti in succession to end his afternoon on a high note and also ensure his team's road trip would end in uplifting fashion.

"I'll tell you what I believe: I believe every team you play on any given day is tough," Martinez said. "We've faced some pretty good pitching. This guy today was really good coming into today. We've just got to focus on one game at a time and come out tomorrow and play with the same intensity we've been playing, and doing what we need to do best. Get good pitching, jump on teams early and hold the lead. If we can do that, I think we can play with anybody."

And, as the stats would show, a home run sprinkled in somewhere helps a bit, too.