Zimmerman and Taylor homer early, Roark solid (Nats win 4-1)

MIAMI - The Nationals offense picked up where it left off in New York with hard contact versus Marlins left-hander Justin Nicolino in the early going.

Michael A. Taylor lined out to a diving Christian Yelich to open the game. Jason Werth then followed with a lined single to left. Although the Nationals didn't score in the inning, they were seeing the southpaw very well.

In the second, they unloaded on the Marlins.

Ryan Zimmerman led off with a solo homer, his fifth of the season, and the Nationals took the lead 1-0.

Anthony Rendon and Wilson Ramos doubled. Rendon scored on the Ramos hit, and it was 2-0 Nationals.

Two batters later, Taylor connected with a blast over the left field wall that Yelich couldn't touch this time. It was Taylor's fourth homer of the season, and the Nats had a four-run second inning and 4-0 lead.

Tanner Roark induced weak contact in the bottom of the second with two groundouts. But then Justin Bour and J.T. Realmuto singled. A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third. Roark then settled down to strikeout Adeiny Hechavarria to end the threat.

Two complete in Miami, 4-0 Nationals.

Update: The Marlins get on the board thanks to a solo homer over the left field wall by Marcell Ozuna. The Nationals lead 4-1 at the midway point. It was Ozuna's eighth homer of the season.

Last week in D.C., Ozuna said he wasn't fazed when he saw the 6-foot-6, 245 lbs., Giancarlo Stanton barreling down on him right before their legs got tangled up and they went down trying to catch a Ryan Zimmerman gap shot. I thought that was an amazing revelation.

Update II: Roark finishes 6 2/3 innings, scattering six hits and allowing one solo homer, walking two and striking out seven. He fired 108 pitches, 72 for strikes.

In the seventh, the Marlins attempted another rally. Roark earned two outs in the inning but then walked the pinch-hitter Cole Gillespie. That ended his night.

Felipe Rivero arrived and allowed a single but then got Martin Prado to turn over a ball grounder right back to the southpaw and the Nationals got out of the seventh unscathed.

Update III: Since joining the ‪Nationals in 2011, Jayson Werth has hit .429 (6-for-14) with two homers and five RBIs on his birthday, including going 2-for-5 tonight.

Shawn Kelley has not allowed a run in 15 innings to begin the season (19 outings). The only other pitcher in the major leagues to have tossed more than 10 innings without allowing a run so far this season is San Diego's Fernando Rodney (16 innings, 0 ER).

Jonathan Papelbon came on in the ninth to record his 12th save.

The Nationals have bounced back to win three in a row. Final score: Nationals 4, Marlins 1. The Nationals are 26-16.

Saturday night's game will be nationally televised on FOX. But I'm not going anywhere but here.