Wilson Ramos delivers in clutch, Nats win 5-4

Yunel Escobar wasted no time helping the Nationals offense get on the board tonight. Escobar launched a 1-1 fastball off Diamondbacks starter Patrick Corbin over the center field wall for his second leadoff homer of the season.

The hit parade continued with a single to center from Anthony Rendon followed by a scorched double to right by Bryce Harper. Ryan Zimmerman's drilled liner to left scored Rendon as the Nationals began the game with four straight hits.

Jayson Werth added an RBI on a groundout to first to give the Nationals a three-run first inning.

Update: Max Scherzer allowed just one hit through the first three innings. But the right-hander ran into trouble in the fourth. A one-out walk to David Peralta was followed by singles from Jake Lamb and Jarrod Saltalamacchia to plate the Diamondbacks first run of the evening.

Chris Owings then ripped a two-run double to left to tie the score.

Scherzer issued his third walk of the game to Nick Ahmed before escaping the jam with back-to-back strikeouts.

Update II: Scherzer battled through six innings, allowing three runs on four hits with three walks and nine strikeouts. He threw 114 pitches and notched his 1,500th career strikeout by whiffing Paul Goldschmidt in the fifth. Scherzer became the first pitcher to record his 1,500th strikeout with the Nationals.

Casey Janssen pitched a scoreless seventh and Drew Storen turned in a perfect eighth.

The Nationals have no hits since the third inning and only two since the first.

Update III: Zimmerman drew a walk to start the eighth. Werth then smoked a double down the left field line. One batter later, Wilson Ramos flicked a single to right scoring Zimmerman and Werth to give the Nats a two-run lead.

Closer Jonathan Papelbon is on for the Nationals in the ninth.

Update IV: Papelbon gave up a leadoff single to Lamb. Some aggressive base running landed him at third, where he scored from on Escobar's throwing error on a routine grounder by Nick Ahmed. Papelbon stabbed a bouncing ball from Cliff Pennington and ran down Pennington on the first-base line for the final out.

The Nationals beat the Diamondbacks 5-4 to end their four-game losing streak. With the Mets' win in Miami, the Nats remain one game behind in the National League East.