A granny for Ramos (Nats win 14-1)

The Nationals watched the Mets put up an 11-spot here at Nats Park two days ago. They've countered that with eight runs and nine hits through the first three innings today. The Nats exploded in the second and third innings, leading 3-0 after two and then 8-0 after three. Ryan Zimmerman, Jayson Werth, Ian Desmond and Denard Span all reached base in front of Wilson Ramos in the third (with Desmond's single bringing in Zimmerman), and Ramos then cleared the bases with a grand slam into the Mets bullpen in left. It's the first career grand slam for Ramos, who now has five RBIs on the day, tying a career high. The Nats Park crowd loves them some curtain calls, and they asked for and received one from Ramos, who came to the top step of the Nats dugout and gave a wave. The Nats are now 6-for-8 with runners in scoring position already today and have given Taylor Jordan a 8-0 cushion to work with. Jordan is still in search of his first career major league win despite posting a 3.68 ERA in his first five starts, and he sure has a decent chance of getting off the schneid today. Update: It's now a 10-1 Nats lead after five, and Jordan is officially in line for his first win. Two more Nats runs came around in the fourth, on RBI singles by Werth and Span. Desmond, Span and Ramos are a combined 7-for-7 with a walk, a grand slam and seven RBIs. Yeah, decent numbers, I guess. With a win today, the Nats will have won four of their last five. Update II: Span didn't homer in the Nats' first 104 games of this season. He now has two in as many days. Span's two-run shot in the sixth has given the Nats a 13-1 lead. The center fielder joked last night that now that he had the homer monkey off his back, he'd crush 30 home runs the rest of the season. At least, we thought he was joking. He might not have. The Nats' 5-8 hitters (Werth, Desmond, Span and Ramos) have gone a ridiculous 11-for-13 with two walks, two homers and 11 RBIs today. Jordan has been pulled after six innings, having allowed just one run on five hits. He walked one and struck out a career-high seven. You never would've thunk it, but he, Dan Haren and Ross Ohlendorf have been absolutely huge the last three days. Here's the stat line from that trio: 20 IP, 3 ER, 14 H, 4 BB, 21 Ks. Big-time stuff from the back of the Nats' rotation when this team needed it the most. Update III: The Nats set a season high for both runs scored and hits (18) in today's 14-1 win over the Mets. Can't complain about the lack of offense today. Jordan gets that first MLB win in his sixth start. He should have a baseball waiting for him in his locker when he gets back to the clubhouse. The Nats took three of four from New York in the last three days, and have won four of five overall. They've now gotten back to two games under .500 at 52-54. They get a day off tomorrow and then head to Detroit for two and Milwaukee for three before a huge series against Atlanta back in D.C.