Nats reel in Marlins following 9-0 deficit

WASHINGTON — The Nationals are far from finished. Not after briefly slipping below .500 this week. And, certainly not after spotting the Marlins the first nine runs Thursday night.

Trea Turner hit two homers, including his first career grand slam, and drove in eight runs as Washington rallied past Miami 14-12 to end a fivegame losing streak.

“When we were down 7-0, I feel like we still for sure had a shot — 9-0, it hurts a little bit more, but we did it,” Turner said. “I think once we got the first run on the board, it kind of just got the momentum back on our side and we continued to push. I think that’s what we’re capable of.”

The Nationals, who lost 17 of their previous 22, have won 12 consecutive games against Miami dating to last season — their longest winning streak against any team since the franchise moved to Washington in 2005.

It was also the largest comeback victory since the team left Montreal. The Nationals rallied from eight runs down to defeat Atlanta 13-12 on April 28, 2015.

The victory came a day after the Nationals called a players-only meeting following a sweep by the Red Sox that dropped them under .500 for the first time since May 2.

But things didn’t start smoothly.

Miami scored an unearned run in the first, and capped a six-run second on Martin Prado’s three-run homer off the left-field foul pole. The Marlins made it 9-0 on Justin Bour’s two-run homer in the fourth off Jeremy Hellickson.

The Nationals were far from out of it.

Turner led off the fourth with a solo shot off Marlins starter Pablo Lopez, who surrendered four more runs in the fifth — including two on Juan Soto’s double. Adam Conley (2-1) then allowed four of the first five hitters he faced to reach in the sixth before Turner smacked a two-out fastball with the bases loaded into Miami’s bullpen to give the Nationals a stunning 10-9 lead. It was Turner’s third career multi-homer game.

Turner added a two-run single in a four-run seventh. His eight RBIs tied for the most ever by a leadoff hitter, according to STATS LLC.