Taylor displays power and glove prowess early (Nats win 9-5)

MIAMI - Manager Davey Martinez spoke before Friday's game about how hard Michael A. Taylor has been working on having quality at-bats as he attempts to get out of a rough patch at the plate.

Taylor was hitting only .157 with 22 strikeouts in his last 15 games.

During batting practice, Taylor showed aggression in his swing with back-to-back homers over the center field wall, well past the 407-foot marker.

That seemingly transferred to the game.

In the second, facing Marlins starter José Ureña, Taylor slammed a line drive homer over the left field wall, scoring Pedro Severino in front of him. The blast came on a 2-1 pitch and was his fourth homer of the season. It was his first homer since April 29.

Taylor also made another outstanding defensive play in the bottom of the third when he caught a long fly ball off the bat of Lewis Brinson up against the center field wall.

Nationals right-hander Max Scherzer allowed two hits and no runs with two strikeouts in the first three innings.

Mid-fourth, the Nats lead the Marlins 2-0.

Update: Miguel Rojas hit a two-out, two-run single in fourth.

Mid-fifth, the Nats and Marlins are tied at 2-2.

Update II: Anthony Rendon doubled with one out in the sixth. He is 3-for-3 on the night. Matt Adams followed with a two-run blast over the center field wall.

Mid-sixth, the Nats lead the Marlins 4-2.

Update III: Derek Dietrich hit an upper deck two-run shot in the bottom of the sixth. Scherzer got out of the inning despite a two on, two-out jam, and finishes with 114 pitches.

After six, the game is tied again 4-4.

Update IV: In the seventh against Marlins reliever Nick Wittgren, Trea Turner hit a bases-loaded slow chopper to shortstop to score a run. Facing Adam Conley, Bryce Harper followed with a two-run double down the left field line.

Scherzer finished six innings, allowing four runs on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts. He was taxed to 114 pitches, 75 for strikes.

Mid-seventh, the Nats lead 7-4 over the Marlins.

Update V: In the seventh, Brian Anderson had a run-scoring double off of reliever Wander Suero. With two on and two out, Brandon Kintzler struck out Brinson to end the threat.

End of the seventh, The Nats lead the Marlins 7-5.

Update VI: In the eighth, Nats scored two runs on two hits and two errors. Andrew Stevenson and Wilmer Difo scored. Difo's single and an error by Brinson allowed Stevenson to score. Turner's hot shot was mishandled by Rojas, which brought Difo home.

Mid-eighth, the Nats lead 9-5.

Update VII: Sean Doolittle worked the final five outs. The Nats dropped the Marlins 9-5 to improve to 15-8 on the road. The game took 3 hours, 37 minutes. Doolittle earns his 10th save. Scherzer is 8-1.