WASHINGTON -- For six innings, Luis Garc¨ªa Jr. sat on the bench as the temperatures at Nationals Park dipped on a blustery Friday night. But when manager Dave Martinez called on him to pinch-hit for Trey Lipscomb to face a righty matchup in the top of the seventh, the second baseman instantly heated up the game.

In just one swing of the bat, Garc¨ªa sparked the Nationals' transformation of a two-run deficit into a commanding 9-3 series-opening win over the Blue Jays.

¡°It¡¯s hard to explain it with words the emotions that run through you,¡± Garc¨ªa said in Spanish.

With Riley Adams on first base and Ildemaro Vargas on second, Garc¨ªa mashed the first pinch-hit home run of his career. The go-ahead blast off righty reliever Erik Swanson put the wheels in motion for a rally that featured four runs in the seventh inning and another four in the eighth.

Garc¨ªa jumped on the first pitch from Swanson, a splitter down the middle, and rocked it 402 feet into center field at 104.7 mph off the bat. Garc¨ªa knew he'd made good contact, but he lost track of the ball in the lights. When he saw center fielder Daulton Varsho leap, Garc¨ªa found its path and saw it leave the park.

¡°It¡¯s a little difficult, especially just coming in,¡± Garc¨ªa said. ¡°I just came in from hitting in the cage, and I was actually not trying to be too aggressive. I was just trying to focus on that at-bat to get a pitch that was elevated. Fortunately, he threw a splitter that hung a little bit and it was up, and I was able to make good contact with it.¡±

It was his second home run of the season and the first since April 15 on the road against the Dodgers. The 23-year-old Garc¨ªa, who leads the Nats in doubles (eight in 27 games), is batting .300 in his fifth Major League season.

¡°We¡¯re trying to get him not to chase, that¡¯s the biggest thing,¡± said Martinez. ¡°He¡¯s a high-ball hitter. We¡¯re trying to get him to think middle-in for the most part and stay in the middle of the field. He¡¯s been really good at doing that.¡±

Following the home run, Jesse Winker singled a line drive into left field and Nick Senzel drove him in with an RBI double to left. The Nationals took a two-run lead into the eighth, but their offense was just getting started.

¡°We build off of each other and we build off each other¡¯s successes,¡± CJ Abrams said. ¡°Luis [coming through] in that inning kind of got us going.¡±

Garc¨ªa once again came up to the plate with two runners on, drawing a full-count walk off lefty G¨¦nesis Cabrera to load the bases. Winker lined out to second baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa for the second out, but Kiner-Falefa fired the ball past Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at first base trying to get an inning-ending double play, which allowed Alex Call and Adams to score.

¡°I loved the home run -- don¡¯t get me wrong -- but the walk was really good for him, too,¡± Martinez said of Garc¨ªa. ¡°If he can do that, especially against left-handed pitching, he¡¯s going to have a really good year, and he¡¯s off to a good start.¡±

The speedy Abrams -- who put the Nats on the board with a third-inning RBI single -- then dashed down the first-base line to reach on a fielding error by third baseman Ernie Clement and drive in Garc¨ªa. Abrams scored the final run on a Joey Meneses single into center field.

¡°We need to do more of that,¡± Martinez said. ¡°Keep going, keep working good at-bats, get on for the next guy and tack on runs. We didn¡¯t have to use [closer Kyle] Finnegan today. ¡­ It definitely helps our bullpen out a lot. I loved the at-bats late in the game, I really did.¡±

The victory was the Nats¡¯ first series-opening win at home this season (1-4) and their second win when trailing after six innings (2-14). They have the opportunity to improve to .500 on Saturday.

¡°I think we have a very good team,¡± Garc¨ªa said. ¡°We go out there for every at-bat with good focus, a good mindset and we battle.¡±