Williams on Roark, Span and more after Nats' 8-3 win

Tanner Roark continues to impress. And the right-hander, who just over a year ago was still working out of the bullpen at Triple-A Syracuse, now leads the Nationals in wins. Roark allowed just one run in seven stellar innings, the Nats' bats exploded for five runs in the first inning, knocking Matt Garza from the game after just a third of an inning, and the Nationals picked up an 8-3 win to even this series with the Brewers. Wilson Ramos had three hits and three RBIs, Ryan Zimmerman drove in three himself, and the Nats cruised to their 52nd win of the season. Here's manager Matt Williams after the win. On Roark's outing: "He was good. A lot of pitches again, though. His pitch count got way up there by the sixth inning, but we let him go back out and he had a good seventh, a quick seventh. So we pushed him a little, but we've got an off-day coming, so potentially get some extra rest there anyway. He pitched really good." On Roark's use of the slider tonight: "You look at the lineup and they hit the fastball really well. But they also hit curveballs really well. It's kind of an odd thing. Generally you look at guys who hit fastballs great, they're not necessarily good on breaking balls. But they are really good on breaking balls. So the slider was a pitch that's off the fastball that's certainly not a curveball. That was part of his gameplan going into tonight, that he could use that a little more instead of the curveball. So he threw a lot more sliders than curveballs tonight." On the key to piling on the runs against Garza in the first: "You want to be aggressive. We've got an opportunity for a crooked number there. I think the big at-bat there was Wilson. He got behind, got to two strikes and hit a slider. That's a big cushion there and extended the inning. (Ian Desmond's) ball, not hit hard, but his speed made up for it, which extended the inning for Wilson. You never count on putting up that many runs in the first inning, but it certainly provides cushion for your pitcher and lets him relax and go to work. So big first inning for us tonight." On Denard Span's play lately: "He's been playing really well all year long. I think he's in the top five in the league in multi-hit games. He's playing really well. He's catching everything in center field. Plays every day. He's energetic. He's a fantastic teammate. He sets our offense in motion, oftentimes in that first inning. The last month or so, I think he's actually seeing more pitches per at-bat. So he's really doing well for us." On Bryce Harper's opposite-field double tonight being a good sign for him: "(Marco) Estrada's tough because he's got a great changeup. Bryce had a good at-bat the first inning, and then stayed on a fastball the other way. He's got power to all fields and can drive a ball to any part of the ballpark. It's good that he's staying on fastballs away that he can hit. He drove that one to left, just inside the line. It's tough when you've got a guy that's got a really good changeup, because the fastball looks even better. But that's a good sign. Last night's a good sign, tonight's a good sign. He ran the bases hard, got great jumps out there. He played really well." On Jerry Blevins' struggles with right-handed hitters: "Well, tonight, I think the ball to (Ryan) Braun is just up in the strike zone. He gave up a ground ball up the middle and then a ball off the end of his bat for the other hit. But again, it's cross-angle to the left-handed hitter, difficult to see. A little easier to see for the right-handed hitter, of course. I think a key for him, certainly against righties, is to be able to command the fastball in. If he can do that, then he opens up the other side of the plate. Against the righties, tonight as an example, that ball was just up to Ryan and he hit it over the fence."