Nats shut out O's 6-0 thanks to Gonzalez's gem, Rendon's blast

BALTIMORE - The Nationals lineup, which has been hit-or-miss throughout an injury-plagued season, showed up in full force today at Camden Yards. Gio Gonzalez, who has been outstanding from the get-go, also showed up.

Together, they overwhelmed the Orioles during a 6-0 victory to kick off this year's version of the Battle of the Beltways.

Gonzalez was brilliant in yet another impressive performance, tossing 7 2/3 scoreless innings and pitching his way out of the few jams he encountered along the way. With this 114-pitch effort, the left-hander is now 6-2 with a 2.10 ERA in 11 starts for the season.

A Memorial Day crowd of 36,139 - a large portion of which was decked out in red and blue - gave Gonzalez a standing ovation as he departed with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, giving way to a bullpen that recorded the final four outs needed to secure the Nats' sixth win in seven games and give them a chance to move into first place in the National League East division by day's end (pending the outcome of the Braves and Phillies' games).

Those visiting fans also roared with approval when the Nationals took an early lead thanks to a well-timed blast from their No. 3 hitter.

Alex Cobb, in his first career start against the Nationals, cruised through his first 2 2/3 innings, retiring 8-of-9 batters. Then, just as they got a chance to face him for the second time through the lineup, the Nats enjoyed a burst of offense.

Five straight batters reached base with two outs in the third, the key blast was Anthony Rendon's three-run homer down the left field line. As the red-clad portion of the crowd cheered with approval, Rendon rounded the bases for the sixth time this season, having just given his team a 3-0 lead.

The Nationals had a chance to tack on some more runs during that rally, putting two more runners on base with Juan Soto at the plate. But the 19-year-old slugger was caught looking at an inside fastball from Cobb, ending that inning with only the three runs on the board.

No matter, because Gonzalez was on cruise control from the get-go in perhaps his best performance of the season.

The left-hander got into semi-serious trouble only once, when he issued back-to-back two-out walks in the bottom of the second. Even then, he merely needed to get No. 9 hitter Andrew Susac to escape the jam, which he did with a called third-strike fastball.

Gonzalez induced three groundball double plays to aid his cause. And he pitched around a one-out double by Adam Jones in the bottom of the sixth, again showing a remarkable knack for getting out of trouble.

Opponents are now batting .113 (6-for-53) with runners in scoring position against Gonzalez, even better than his stellar .175 mark in that department last season.

The Nationals finally got the tack-on runs they sought with a three-run eighth against reliever Richard Bleier. Rendon started things off with a double, then watched as Matt Adams, Soto, Michael A. Taylor and Wilmer Difo all singled to keep the rally going and give their team a six-run lead.