Juan Soto, Max Scherzer lead Washington Nationals over Miami Marlins

MIAMI, July 28 (UPI) -- Rookie phenom Juan Soto and ace Max Scherzer led the Washington Nationals in a 9-1 thrashing of the Miami Marlins Friday at Marlins Park.

Scherzer dazzled for eight innings, allowing just three hits and one run while tossing 11 strikeouts. Soto hit his 13th home run of the season into the upper deck in the second inning.

"[Scherzer] didn't give us a whole lot to hit tonight," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "We've been pretty good with most guys, but tonight you have to give Max a lot of credit."

Matt Adams gave the Nationals a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, smacking an RBI single to center field off of Marlins starter Pablo Lopez. Scherzer put out the Marlins in order in the bottom of the frame, setting the stage for Soto in the top of the second frame.

The rookie left fielder worked a 2-2 count against Lopez before pouncing on a 94.8 mph fastball. He sent the pitch deep to right center field for a 420-foot solo blast. Washington added another run on a Bryce Harper sacrifice fly in the next inning, before the Marlins finally got on the board. Marlins third baseman Martin Prado plated Starlin Castro on the RBI double to left field.

Harper plated his second RBI with a ground ball single in the eighth inning. Adams brought in Trea Turner for the Nationals' sixth run on an RBI single, before Soto plated Adams and Harper with an RBI triple in the eighth frame. Daniel Murphy brought in the final run of the game with another RBI single in the eighth.

Soto finished the night 3-for-5, with three RBIs and two runs scored. The rookie is now hitting .315 on the season with 13 bombs and 36 RBIs.

Scherzer carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning to earn his 14th win of the season.

"We get it. We know where we're at. We know the situation everything's in," Scherzer said. "But at the same time, you can't get bigger than the game. You can't start thinking that this game is more important than any other game. You got to stay within yourself and go out there and compete how you know how to compete."

The Marlins and Nationals pick up the four-game series at 7:10 p.m. Saturday in Miami. Washington leads the series 2-0.