(TSX / STATS) -- WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The day began with the talk of Max Scherzer's neck, which forced the Washington Nationals' ace out of his last start on Tuesday in Miami after just one inning.
The night ended with Scherzer praising the depth of his team, which got contributions from role players in the opener of a four-game series with the Miami Marlins.
Pinch hitter Adam Lind hit a tiebreaking single with two outs in the eighth inning, and the first-place Nationals beat the Marlins 3-2 on Monday.
"This is such a great team win," said Scherzer, who said his neck is fine after allowing two runs and five hits in seven innings. "It was a good start. This was a competitive game. We had some timely hitting and Lind came through with a huge hit. Man, I love those starts."
Lind hit a grounder up the middle against Jarlin Garcia (0-2) to score Wilmer Difo, who led off with a single, took second on a sacrifice and went to third on a groundout.
It was Lind's 13th pinch hit and 10th RBI as a pinch hitter.
"You try to put him up there in a situation where he can drive in some runs," Washington manager Dusty Baker said of Lind.
Brandon Kintzler (2-0) issued a one-out walk to Christian Yelich but pitched a scoreless eighth. Sean Doolittle allowed a leadoff single in the ninth to pinch hitter Miguel Rojas but struck out pinch hitter Tyler Moore on the 10th pitch to secure his sixth save.
Scherzer did not figure in the decision. He made the start six days after leaving a start in Miami with a sore neck after hitting a home run in the top of the second.
Miami's Giancarlo Stanton hit a solo homer off Scherzer to lead off the sixth to tie the game at 2-2. It was the major-league-leading 37th homer of the year for Stanton, who has 17 homers at Nationals Park in his career to lead all opposing players.
"If he's on the field and stays on the field, he's going to hit 40 to 50 every year. That's what's going to happen if he stays on the field," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said.
Marlins reliever Odrisamer Despaigne, who took over in the second, gave up one run on four hits in 3 2/3 innings after left-hander Chris O'Grady exited his sixth major league start in the second inning with a right oblique strain.
Difo was 2-for-3 and has a hit in 23 of his last 26 starts, and Bryce Harper was 2-for-4 with a homer.
O'Grady was replaced by Despaigne with one out and Ryan Zimmerman on first. Despaigne plunked the first batter he faced, Anthony Rendon, then gave up an RBI single to Matt Wieters.
"I went out for that second inning and just started feeling cramping in my right side," O'Grady said. "I threw a few more, and after the curveball to (Daniel) Murphy it just kind of tightened up a little bit. Right now it's just day to day. I don't know what's going on yet. Hopefully it's just a cramp."
Mattingly confirmed O'Grady has an oblique injury.
"I didn't expect him to stay in that game much longer because he was stretching. At that point I didn't think he could go very long. It's usually on one pitch or one swing," Mattingly said.
Harper gave the Nationals a 2-0 lead when he led off the fourth with a long homer to right. It was Harper's 29th homer of the year, his second in five career at-bats against Despaigne and the right fielder's 150th career home run.
The Marlins trimmed the lead to 2-1 in the fifth on an RBI single up the middle by Despaigne, who collected just his third hit in 39 major league at-bats.
NOTES: Washington manager Dusty Baker and Marlins manager Don Mattingly praised 1979 American League MVP Don Baylor, who died Monday at the age of 68. "We signed at the same time. I was supposed to be the next Hank Aaron and he was the next Frank Robinson with the Orioles. We fought for batting titles all the way up in the minors," Baker said. ... Washington RHP A.J. Cole (1-1, 4.91 ERA) will face Miami RHP Vance Worley (1-2, 5.31) on Tuesday. ... Marlins LHP Chris O'Grady, who started Monday, was drafted out of nearby George Mason University by the Los Angeles Angels in 2012. He was teammates at Mason with Miami 1B Justin Bour, who is on the disabled list.
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