MIAMI — Stephen Strasburg came in with his power stuff, and the Miami Marlins did not flinch.
Benches cleared, and the Marlins did not back down.
No haymakers were thrown — unless you count right fielder Giancarlo Stanton’s massive three-run homer that sparked the Marlins to an 11-2 win over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night, snapping Miami’s eight-game losing streak.
“Enough has been enough for a while,” Marlins pitcher Tom Koehler said of the skid.
Stanton’s first-inning blast to center off Strasburg was measured at 457 feet, the longest ever allowed by the Nationals right-hander.
Stanton, who added a two-run double in the fifth, had five RBIs on the night, giving him a major-league-leading 21 for the season.
In addition to Stanton’s heroics, Marlins center fielder Marcell Ozuna, who was back in the lineup after missing one game due to a foot injury, went 4-for-5 and scored three runs.
However, it was Koehler (2-1) who perhaps gave the Marlins the biggest lift, considering that Miami pitchers produced a 6.14 ERA during the skid.
Koehler endured a rough first inning — even though he was not scored on, he was forced to throw 28 pitches — before settling down and getting the win. He allowed just one hit in seven scoreless innings, worked around a career-high-tying five walks and lowered his ERA to 1.89.
“It was a case of trying to do too much and trying to be extra effective,” Koehler said of his first-inning issues. “That’s how you get in trouble. I had to step back and remember to make my pitches.”
The benches cleared in the fourth inning, when a Koehler pitch brushed back Washington shortstop Ian Desmond. However, that was about all the fight the Nationals had in them on this night.
“Guys tend to get upset when they get crowded,” Koehler said of Desmond. “But we have been beat inside too many times these past couple of series, and that’s because we haven’t established inside.”
Desmond said it was a “great game” by Koehler, but he took exception to the pitches up and in.
“I wasn’t thinking he had intentions of hitting me,” Desmond said. “You can drill me in the ribs. Drill me in the leg whenever you want. But four or five pitches missing in or around the head …
“I’m not claiming it’s on purpose, but you have to be able to control the ball.
“No big deal. It wasn’t intended to escalate to what it was. It was just the heat of the moment.”
Koehler said Desmond yelled to him to “throw the ball over the plate,” to which the pitcher had his own retort:
“Obviously,” Koehler said, “that’s how you get strikes.”
Meanwhile, Strasburg (1-2) was catching too much of the plate at times. He allowed eight hits, three walks and six runs in four innings. He struck out five. Last Thursday, he fanned 12 and beat the Marlins for the seventh time in his brief career.
Strasburg has 23 big-league wins against teams other than Miami since he made his much-hyped debut in 2010. He is 30-21 overall and 7-4 vs. the Marlins.
“I know statistically he’s won a lot of games against us,” Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. “At their place he pitched really well, but we also got to him a few times last year. I think you saw that today.
“It seemed like we had a nice plan going. Guys were aggressive. He threw quite a lot of fastballs early in the count, and we were ready for them.”
Miami got to Strasburg quickly, scoring three runs before he recorded his first out. Left fielder Christian Yelich and Ozuna started the rally with singles, and Stanton followed with his fifth homer of the season. Stanton belted a 2-1 changeup.
The Marlins increased the lead to 6-0 with three more runs in the second. Shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria led off the inning with a triple to left-center. Ozuna drove in a run with an infield single off the glove of Desmond, and third baseman Casey McGehee stroked a two-run single.
Miami added five runs in the fifth to go up 11-0.
After the game, Nationals manager Matt Williams was ready to move on.
“Sometimes,” he said, “you get beat by a good pitcher.”
NOTES: Marlins LF Christian Yelich singled in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 10 games. … Nationals CF Bryce Harper started despite a left quad injury. … The teams’ three-game series concludes Wednesday. Miami will start ace RHP Jose Fernandez, and Washington throws RHP Tanner Roark, who has nine scoreless innings in his career against the Marlins. Fernandez is 11-0 with a 1.14 ERA at Marlins Park in his brief career. … Washington, with RHP Lucas Giolito, 19, and Miami, with LHP Andrew Heaney, 22, have two of the game’s top 10 pitching prospects. Giolito is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA in low Class A this season. Heaney is 1-0 with a 2.36 ERA at Double-A. … The attendance at Marlins Park was 19,931.