Harper homers, Nats win 10-0 (Werth hit by pitch, leaves game)

SAN DIEGO - The first five batters reached base tonight against Padres starter Odrisamer Despaigne, leading to four runs in the first for the Nationals. Three straight singles from Denard Span, Yunel Escobar and Jayson Werth loaded the bases for Bryce Harper's broken bat RBI flare to right field. Harper has now driven in 32 runs, one behind major league leader Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins.

The Nationals claimed the next run when Despaigne walked Ryan Zimmerman to score Escobar. Wilson Ramos followed by grounding into a double play, but Harper crossed the plate. Shortstop Ian Desmond capped off the first-inning burst with an RBI single up the middle.

In all, the Nats sent nine batters to the plate in the first inning. The last time they did that on the road was April 3, 2008.

In the second, facing a full count, Despaigne's fastball ran in hard on Werth, striking his left wrist. Werth remained down on the field for a short time before making his way to first base. At the end of the inning, Nationals manager Matt Williams met Werth outside the dugout and the left fielder left the game. Tyler Moore replaced him in left.

Update: The onslaught continued for the Nats in the third. Again, the first five batters reached base, all on hits. Zimmerman and Ramos started it off with singles. For Ramos, his base knock extended his major league-leading and career-high hitting streak to 17 games. Desmond then lined a ball to left to score Zimmerman for his second RBI of the game.

Espinosa followed with a bullet to right. Ramos and Desmond scored easily on the double as Espinosa was thrown out at third trying to extend the hit into a triple.

Even Nats starter Jordan Zimmermann joined in on the hit parade with a rope off the base of the left field wall that went for a double. All nine of the Nats starters have hits tonight.

Despaigne's night ended after the third, but the Nats continued their assault in the fourth on right-hander Shawn Kelley.

Kelley left a 2-0 slider hanging to Harper and the result was a towering solo homer to right. Harper reclaims the National League home run lead with 13. He now has 33 RBIs, two less than Stanton.

Update II: Zimmerman continues to rack up the RBIs. His sacrifice fly in the sixth scored Escobar for Zimmerman's second RBI on the night and 27th on the season.

Meanwhile, Zimmermann's night ended after six scoreless innings. He yielded six hits with one walk and six strikeouts. It's his first outing this season without allowing a run. A.J. Cole is on to pitch for the Nats.

Span added an RBI single in the seventh.

The 10 runs scored tonight are the most at Petco Park in franchise history.

The Nats lead the Padres 10-0 in the seventh.

Update III: Cole goes the final three innings to pick up his first professional save. The Nats bang out 16 hits, even the four-game series and move within a half-game of the first-place Mets in the National League East.