Marlins lose game, O’Grady to oblique strain

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Miami Marlins lost twice Monday at Nationals Park: the game to the Washington Nationals, 3-2, and starting pitcher Chris O’Grady to a strained right oblique.

Adam Lind’s eighth-inning two-out, 0-2, pinchhit single to center put the Nationals on top for good, after the Marlins had battled back from a two-run hole against Washington ace Max Scherzer. Lefthander Jarlin Garcia left a slider over the plate, and Lind sent it back up the middle for the lead and eventual win.

The injury, though, was the first loss. The left-handed O’Grady exited after a strange sequence in the second inning. After the third pitch of the inning, a third ball to Ryan Zimmerman, O’Grady clearly grabbed at his right side, drawing a visit from manager Don Mattingly, pitching coach Juan Nieves and athletic trainer Dustin Luepker.

O’Grady remained in the game after a group chat, but three pitches later — after walking Zimmerman and getting Daniel Murphy to pop up — he appeared to be in even more pain, leaving no question whether he could continue. Righthander Odrisamer Despaigne (3 2⁄3 innings, one run) came on in sudden relief.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether O’Grady would be able to make his next start.

His early exit put the Marlins in a bad spot against Scherzer, who last week — at Marlins Park, against O’Grady — left after one inning with neck spasms.

Scherzer returned without missing a start and on Monday was largely his normal, dominant self. He struck out nine and allowed five hits in seven innings, though the Marlins did reach him for two runs — one in a predictable fashion, the other far less so.

The unpredictable came first. In the fifth, Tomas Telis lined a oneout double down the leftfield line. Reliever Odrisamer Despaigne, with two outs, sent a grounder up the middle for a single to score Telis, the first RBI and third hit in Despaigne’s 68 career plate appearances.

The predictable came an inning later. Giancarlo Stanton, after striking out swinging in his first two at-bats, homered to leftcenter, his 37th of the year, tying his career-high total from 2012 and 2014.

Stanton’s blast matched Bryce Harper’s — a nodoubter over Stanton’s head in the fourth — to tie the game.

For Scherzer, it was the 13th time in 23 starts this year that he finished seven innings. Marlins starting pitchers have lasted at least seven innings just 12 times combined this year.

Despaigne and his successors — Drew Steckenrider and Junichi Tazawa for an inning apiece — kept the Marlins in it until the Nats reached Garcia in the eighth.