A Tony Dinning brace and Nathan Ellington's late strike ensured a traumatic week for Wigan Athletic ended on a victorious note.
Argyle manager Paul Sturrock made two changes to the team held 0-0 by Northampton seven days previously, David Friio and Brian McGlinchey returning after injury in place of Osvaldo Lopes and Hasney Aljofree.
Wigan, seeking to extend their unbeaten run to nine games, were forced into one change, with Gary Teale replacing the injured Scott Green.
It was Argyle who drew first blood, against the run of play, in the 17th minute. Graham Coughlan thumped the ball high into the Wigan penalty area and Michael Evans played it into the path of Ian Stonebridge, who steered the ball low into the net with his right foot.
Wigan drew level eight minutes later after Plymouth's defence failed to clear it's lines. Teale won possession and crossed to the far post, where Dinning lashed the ball home with a left foot volley.
Jason Jarrett missed a golden opportunity to give the Latics an interval lead when he failed to convert a flowing move involving Neil Roberts and the increasingly impressive Teale.
Wigan goalkeeper John Filan kept out an Evans header early in the second half and his opposite number Romain Larrieu thwarted Ellington in a one on one, before Dinning netted his second of the game, smashing home the rebound after Teale's shot was blocked.
The goal boosted Wigan and, with Plymouth pushing up to chase the game, they nearly added to their total, when Teale's shot curled just wide of the left post.
As it was, Ellington had to wait until the dying moments of injury time before racing onto Robert's through ball and beating Larrieu in a one on one to underline Wigan's superiority