Lineup gives Gonzalez plenty of support for 100th career win

Gio Gonzalez kept giving back the leads his teammates provided, but the Nationals kept providing enough run support until the left-hander settled down and then handed the game over to his bullpen, which finished off an 8-5 victory over the Rockies.

Gonzalez, who allowed two runs and four hits over six innings, earned his 100th career win.

Jayson Werth and Daniel Murphy homered for the Nationals, who won their second straight after a four-game losing streak.

Werth got the Nationals on the board quick when he clobbered an 0-2 pitch to left for a first-inning homer, his second in as many nights and his 18th of the season.

But as has too often been the case this season, Gonzalez gave that run right back, via two singles and a sacrifice fly.

The problem continued as the night progressed. When the Nats scored again in the bottom of the third, Gonzalez again gave it right back.

That actually represented the seventh straight time Gonzalez was scored upon in the half-inning immediately following one in which his team scored, a streak that encompassed four starts.

Finally, Gonzalez put an end to the madness. The Nationals scored in both the bottom of the fourth and bottom of the fifth, and Gonzalez responded with back-to-back scoreless frames, preserving a 4-2 lead.

One of those runs came via Murphy's solo homer, his 25th of the season. He also now has 98 RBIs in 2016, an even 500 for his career.

Werth drove in another run in the seventh, bringing home Trea Turner, who had two infield singles and forced three errors with his speed.

Bryce Harper put the finishing touches on this offensive explosion with a two-run triple that came within inches of bring a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh, providing the Nationals bullpen plenty of cushion.

The Nationals bullpen, refreshed thanks to Max Scherzer's dominant start Thursday night, finished off this win for Gonzalez. Rookie Koda Glover pitched a 1-2-3 seventh when the lead was only two runs, then returned for the eighth after the lead had expanded to six runs. Newly acquired left-hander Marc Rzepczynski retired one of the two batters he faced in his Nats debut.

Shawn Kelley nearly finished it off but was pulled with two outs in the ninth after serving up a three-run homer to Nick Hundley that trimmed the margin of victory. Mark Melancon wound up recording the final out in a non-save situation.