Marlins 4, Nationals 3
WASHINGTON -- Martin Prado had two hits, including a two-run homer, and scored twice as the Miami Marlins beat the Washington Nationals 4-3 on Friday night to put a dent in the postseason hopes of the defending division champions.
Marlins center fielder Marcell Ozuna also had two hits, including a solo homer and double.
The Nationals (64-63) began the night 6 1/2 games behind the first-place New York Mets in the National League East. Washington has lost nine of its last 11 games decided by one or two runs and the Marlins (52-77) won just their 22nd road game of the season.
Washington trimmed the Miami lead to 4-3 in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by first baseman Ryan Zimmerman against Kyle Barraclough. But the reliever escaped further damage when he deflected a shot by catcher Wilson Ramos for a 1-4-3 groundout to end the threat with the bases loaded.
The losing pitcher was Washington starter Max Scherzer (11-11), who allowed four runs, including two homers, in seven innings with eight strikeouts. He has yielded 17 runs in his last four starts and has not won at home since a June 20 no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Miami's Adam Conley (2-1), in his fifth career start, allowed six hits and three runs in five innings plus three batters. A.J. Ramos got his 23rd save with a scoreless ninth, getting pinch-hitter Clint Robinson on a fly to right for the final out with shortstop Ian Desmond on second base.
The Nationals have not won a one-run game since Aug. 4, with four such losses in a row, and are 10-16 this month while the Mets have been red hot.
Marlins left fielder Derek Dietrich had an RBI double in the first inning against Scherzer to make it 1-0. His two-out hit scored Prado, who had singled, and gave Dietrich his 14th RBI of the month.
Desmond tied the score at 1 with a homer in the second -- his ninth home run since the All-Star break.
But the Marlins answered in the third as Prado hit a two-run homer to make it 3-1. Then Ozuna led off the fourth with a homer against Scherzer, whose last start was Aug. 20 at Colorado, to expand the margin to 4-1.
Wilson Ramos homered in the fifth to cut the margin to 4-2 against Conley.
Conley, 25, in his 10th big league game, made his fifth start of the year. It was the fourth game in a row that a lefty started for the Marlins, the first time that had happened in franchise history.
Nationals center fielder Bryce Harper (.334) and Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon (.333) began the day ranked first and second in the league in hitting. Harper singled just over the glove of Gordon in the first.
Harper was making his second start of the year in center after regular center fielder Denard Span went on the disabled list. Rookie Michael A. Taylor, who has also played center this year, was not in the starting lineup after suffering a leg contusion while running into the wall Thursday during a game against the San Diego Padres.
NOTES: Marlins 1B Justin Bour played college baseball at George Mason, about 30 miles from Nationals Park. He started Friday and entered the game hitting .253 with 12 homers with a lifetime average of .359 and two homers against his hometown Nationals. ... The Nationals put CF Denard Span on the 15-day disabled list with left hip inflammation and brought up OF Matt den Dekker from Triple-A Syracuse. Span had just come off the DL on Tuesday after missing 40 games with back problems. Span will have surgery this coming Tuesday and is done for the season, manager Matt Williams said Friday. Span hit .301 while playing in just 61 games. A former Met, den Dekker has played in 26 games this year with Washington and hit .184. ... Washington RHP Jordan Zimmermann (10-8, 3.54 ERA) will face Marlins RHP Tom Kohler (8-12, 3.98) in the second game of the series Saturday. ... Washington INF Trea Turner, a first-round pick of the San Diego Padres in 2014 out of North Carolina State, was in the starting lineup at second for his first big league start. He played mostly shortstop in the minors this season after coming to Washington in June as a player to be named in a deal with the San Diego Padres from December.