Nationals blow out Braves 9-1 to complete winning homestand

Bryce Harper returned to the lineup this afternoon and helped the Nationals take a quick lead on the Braves. Anthony Rendon, who is becoming a consistent force of production once again, later put an exclamation point on a 9-1 thumping of Atlanta on a sweltering hot afternoon in the District.

Harper, playing for the first time in eight days since a neck injury sidelined him, roped an RBI double in his first at-bat and also walked and scored. The struggling right fielder hadn't been in the initial lineup announced by manager Dusty Baker but was added about 90 minutes before gametime.

Rendon, meanwhile, continued his recent surge at the plate, launching a three-run homer in the fifth inning that put the game out of reach. The third baseman, who also drove in a run with a first-inning sacrifice fly, now has reached base in 20 straight games, hitting .329 with a .629 on-base percentage, four homers and 18 RBIs along the way.

On the latest in a string of blazing hot August days, Tanner Roark battled the conditions - 96 degrees at first pitch, with a heat index of 107 - and churned out seven innings of one-run ball. That's the 10th time he's done that this season, most among all major league starting pitchers.

Roark (13-6) has now won four consecutive starts, lowering his ERA to 2.81 in the process.

The Nationals staked their starter to an early 3-0 lead thanks to Trea Turner's leadoff double, Ben Revere's bunt single (which Atlanta catcher Anthony Recker promptly threw away down the right field line), Harper's RBI double and Rendon's sacrifice fly.

They really poured it on during a four-run fifth inning that included a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Wilson Ramos and then Rendon's three-run homer into the left field bullpen off rookie right-hander Tyrell Jenkins.

Ramos' RBI single in the seventh and Chris Heisey's solo homer in the eighth put a final stamp on the blowout victory and a 5-3 homestand for the Nationals, who are now a season-best 22 games over .500. They lead the Marlins (who beat Chris Sale and the White Sox this afternoon but learned Giancarlo Stanton is out for the rest of the season with a severe groin strain) by 8 1/2 games.