Rendon, bullpen save the day as Nationals rally to 9-7 victory

They weathered a laborious (and brief) start from Gio Gonzalez, used Anthony Rendon's grand slam to get back in the game, rode their expanded bullpen through a string of scoreless innings and then watched as their lineup sealed the deal late.

Suffice it to say that the Nationals' 9-7 victory over the Braves tonight had a little bit of everything.

Tied in the bottom of the eighth, the Nationals took the lead for good when Atlanta catcher Tyler Flowers airmailed a throw to third base on Ben Revere's sacrifice bunt attempt, bringing Michael A. Taylor home with the go-ahead run. Trea Turner's broken-bat single moments later brought home two more insurance runs to put the finishing touches on a three-run rally that featured only one base hit.

Koda Glover, who recorded the final two outs of the eighth, wound up earning his second career win. Mark Melancon recorded his 39th save overall (ninth in nine tries with the Nationals) despite giving up a run in the ninth, completing a dominant performance by the Nats bullpen.

Melancon was the seventh reliever deployed by manager Dusty Baker after Gonzalez was pulled two batters into the fourth inning, joining Matt Belisle, Sean Burnett, Blake Treinen, Oliver Perez, Shawn Kelley and Glover. Collectively, they allowed one run on three hits, retiring 14 in a row at one point.

Bryce Harper had a pair of hits and also stole his 20th base, joining Alfonso Soriano (2006) and Ian Desmond (2012, 2013, 2014) as the only players in Nationals history to record seasons with 20 homers and 20 stolen bases.

Gonzalez entered on a sustained hot streak, going 5-1 with a 3.00 ERA in nine starts since the All-Star break, but he immediately got himself in trouble tonight, giving up two quick runs in the top of the first.

Another run came in the top of the second, though there was blame to spread around for that one. Dansby Swanson, the top pick of last summer's draft now getting a shot as Atlanta's everyday shortstop, drove a ball to deep center field. Turner, the rookie infielder still learning how to play the outfield, got twisted around and then slammed into the fence as the ball caromed back toward the infield. Both Harper and Jayson Werth were slow to back up the play. And before the Nats knew what hit them, Swanson was sliding into the plate with a most memorable first career home run.

Down 4-1 by the time they got to the bottom of third, the Nationalas finally came storming back, with three straight singles setting the stage for one of the biggest blasts of the season. Down 0-2 in the count, Rendon battled right-hander Williams Perez and then blasted a pitch deep to left. The crowd roared with delight as Rendon circled the bases on the first grand slam of his career.

And when Ryan Zimmerman added an opposite-field shot of his own two batters later, the Nationals had themselves a sudden 6-4 lead. Which Gonzalez promptly gave right back.

It's been a recurring theme this season - Gonzalez's inability to provide shutdown innings after his teammates score - and it happened again in the top of the fourth. Two straight hits by the Braves opened the frame and brought Baker out of the dugout for a quick hook of his starter (who wound up surrendering eight hits to the 16 batters he faced).

Belisle did let both inherited runners score in the fourth, leaving the game tied. But the Nationals bullpen took over from there and took control back of a ballgame that was threatening to spin out of control.