Nationals bats come alive again in 10-4 rout of Arizona

PHOENIX - Turns out Monday night's offensive explosion wasn't a complete aberration for the Nationals, because they nearly duplicated the feat tonight against the Diamondbacks.

Wilson Ramos, Chris Heisey and Jayson Werth all clubbed home runs to lead another potent offensive attack, carrying the Nats to a 10-4 victory at Chase Field.

Combined with their lopsided win in Monday's series opener, the Nationals have now outscored Arizona 24-5 over the last two nights, putting their offensive struggles from the weekend in San Francisco in the rearview mirror.

"It's been a lot of fun to watch," said Tanner Roark, who rode all that run support to his 11th win of the season. "To have guys coming out there and putting good swings on the ball and not trying to do too much, taking what's given to them, that's what great about this team. We're not too selfish. (Just) trying to go out there and take the ball where it's thrown at and hit it the other way, pull it when necessary and just keep hitting the ball hard."

The Nationals did all this damage tonight with Bryce Harper sidelined with an illness that required IV fluids during the course of the game, and with Ryan Zimmerman out for the second straight day with a sore left wrist.

Not that they struggled to produce without those two big names. Rookie Wilmer Difo, a last-minute substitution for Harper, went 3-for-5 with an RBI. Heisey, meanwhile, homered and reached base three times.

The Nationals did most of their damage against Robbie Ray, once a highly regarded prospect in their organization who became a key piece in the trade that brought Doug Fister to Washington. Now with the Diamondbacks, the left-hander has shown flashes of dominance (152 strikeouts in 121 innings) but has struggled to get through opposing lineups the second and third time.

That scouting report proved true tonight. Ray got through the first four innings relatively unscathed, surrendering two runs but pitching his way out of a couple of jams.

Then came the top of the fifth, when the Nationals strung together an impressive two-out rally to take the lead for good. It began with a single up the middle by Daniel Murphy, then continued when Anthony Rendon drew a walk.

That set the stage for Ramos to reach down and drive a low 1-2 pitch from Ray deep over the left-field fence. Ramos' three-run homer was his 16th of the season, matching his career-high.

"He had struck me out the previous at-bat with a slider in the dirt," Ramos said via interpreter Octavio Martinez. "So I went into the at-bat looking for that particular pitch. And he threw it and left it a little over the plate, and I took advantage of it."

Seconds after Ramos crossed the plate, Heisey went deep himself, hammering Ross' very next pitch to left to extend the Nats' newfound lead.

They never let up after that. Werth homered off reliever Randall Delgado in the sixth, and a string of five singles in the eighth off Daniel Hudson put the final stamp on another blowout victory.

The lead wasn't nearly so large through most of Roark's start. The right-hander wasn't at his very best - he allowed three runs over 6 1/3 innings - but he was effective when he needed to be and once again put his team in position to win.

"That's Tanner," manager Dusty Baker said. "He's a battler. And he doesn't give in."

Roark now has 15 quality starts, a total bested only by five others in the majors this season: Madison Bumgarner, Max Scherzer, Aaron Sanchez, Justin Verlander and Jon Lester.

With the victory, the Nationals now lead the Marlins by six games in the National League East, the Mets by 7 1/2.