Washington Nationals’ lineup for 2nd of 4 with the Miami Marlins + Matt Adams’ quiet four-hit night...

Matt Adams missed 18 games waiting for a fractured left index finger to heal after he hurt it on a bunt attempt in Toronto, but he told reporters on Wednesday morning he was happy to be back sooner than expected so he could help try to turn things around for the struggling Nationals.

“I think if you look at the game of baseball, a lot of good teams go through stretches like this and I think this team is going to show everybody that we’re a group of winners,” he said.

“We’re going to deal with this stretch of tough luck, you could say, and it not going the way we want it to, and we’re going to turn it around and be right where we need to be at the end of the year.”

Adams didn’t get into the finale with the Red Sox, but he started in last night’s series opener with the Miami Marlins, and went 4 for 5 with double and three runs scored in the Nationals’ come-from-behind, 14-12 win. He said afterwards that he didn’t doubt that they could come back even after they fell behind, 9-0.

“I think that’s definitely the way it felt in there, and I think it just starts with our leaders. You see our leaders still cheering, rooting everybody on, and I think that’s just contagious, and just the leadership and the veterans we have on this team they’ve been in these situations before. To seem them calm and collected, we just wanted to get the job done.”

More importantly for Adams, who finished the night with a .291/.364/.589 line, eight doubles, and 13 home runs in 58 games and 1876 plate appearances, there were no lingering effects of the injury to his finger.

“It’s good,” he said. “All the padding that I have on it, I don’t really feel much discomfort.”

Adams is back in there tonight for the second of four with the Fish.

HERE’S THE NATIONALS’ LINEUP FOR TONIGHT’S GAME VS THE MARLINS: