Rendon leads the way on another big offensive night for the Nats

It's too much to ask of this from the Nationals lineup on a nightly basis, but it's sure nice to be reminded what this group is capable of doing on any given night.

Ten runs? Check. Fifteen hits? Check. Four homers? Check. An eight-run outburst in one inning? Check.

"It's fun to be a part of when you get going like that," first baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. "It doesn't happen very often, so you just try to enjoy it and keep going."

Tonight's 10-1 thumping of the Mariners was the Nationals' easiest victory in some time. For once, there was no fear about which reliever would be asked to protect a slim lead late. Those 10 runs, all scored in the game's first four innings, along with Joe Ross' eight strong innings made for a very simple night for Dusty Baker and Co.

"You're going to play more tight games than those type of games, but it always feels good when you hit," Baker said. "When you don't hit, it makes everyone look kind of flat, even when you're not. It just looks like it. But those big innings turn into, like, a feeding frenzy. Everybody starts being more aggressive at the plate."

The Nationals' eight-run fourth ranks among the best offensive innings they've ever produced, worthy even of comparison to multiple innings in their 23-5 romp over the Mets last month.

In this case, the home team delivered nine hits - matching a club record previously established Aug. 20, 2016 against the Braves - in an inning in which 11 batters came to the plate. They got three home runs - one a piece from Jayson Werth, Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon - and all of them came with two outs. The only member of the lineup not to record a hit in that inning was Ross, who grounded into a double play (but did single in his first at-bat of the night).

"I guess we're swinging at good pitches," Rendon said. "Any hitter gets in attack mode, we tend to chase pitches out of the zone. But we were trying to hit the balls that were in the zone, and we got eight runs."

Rendon was the biggest producer on a night in which there was plenty of production. He also homered off Christian Bergman in the second inning, then added a double off the right-hander to lead off the big fourth-inning rally.

It was, by far, Rendon's best performance since April 30, when he turned into a one-man wrecking crew while going 6-for-6 with three homers and 10 RBIs against the Mets. He was on track for something similar tonight - 3-for-3 with two homers and five RBIs after four innings - but the Nationals eased off the gas pedal after that and Rendon popped up in his only other at-bat.

Still, it wasn't lost on many that Rendon's big game came with Ross as his team's starting pitcher. Ross' last big league start before tonight? That April 30 game against the Mets. Which means that five of Rendon's seven homers this season and 15 of his 28 RBIs have come in Ross' last two starts.

"If he could pitch every game," the third baseman said, "that'd be awesome."

The entire Nationals lineup wouldn't complain. There's no better way to guarantee a big offensive night than to send Ross to the mound.

In Ross' four starts this season, the Nats have scored 62 total runs, a minimum of 10 per outing. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that's the most runs a team has ever scored for a pitcher in his first four starts of a season.

"It's great," the right-hander said. "It's really nothing more you can ask for as a starter than we score 10 runs before the fifth. Kind of takes a good amount of pressure off my shoulders to try and be so perfect out there and, like I said, just throw strikes and let them work behind me. If they score 10 every game, I'll feel great."