Heart of Nats order causes nightmare for opposition

One key to the Nationals' big lead in their division heading into the All-Star break is the heart of their order. Their 3-4-5-6 hitters in the lineup have established a nice core of their offense which is difficult for any opposing pitcher to navigate.

Sunday, they added their No. 7 hitter to the mix of lethal bats and that was too much for the Braves in a series-ending 10-5 Nats win.

The 3-4-5-6 hitters in the lineup - Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman, Daniel Murphy and Anthony Rendon - combined for six hits, six runs and six RBIs.

In the first 88 games of the season, those four hitters have combined to hit 69 homers and plate 246 RBIs.

Three of them - Harper, Zimmerman and Murphy are All-Star starters Tuesday in Miami.

If Harper had a vote, Rendon would be there too. Rendon went 2-for-3 Sunday with an opening inning two-run double, plus two walks, a stolen base and two runs scored.

"Yeah, he should be the starting third baseman for the National League this year," Harper said. "Definitely nothing against Nolan Arenado or anybody else that's there, but that guy has had an unbelievable first half. He's kept us in ballgames, had innings to win ballgames, played a great third base, and just done everything all around for us.

"I know he's excited to go back to Houston and get some rest of course, but he should be down in Florida with us. It's definitely a bummer, but he'll get his chance."

Manager Dusty Baker is also not lost on the impact Rendon has made in the first half of the season.

Rendon reaches the break hitting .304 with 16 homers and 54 RBIs. The number are much better than his halfway mark (All-Star break) from 2016 when he was hitting .254 after 88 games with nine homers and 33 RBIs.

This mythical midway mark for Rendon is on par for his 2014 season when he hit .287 with 13 homers and 53 RBIs in 89 games. But even with just 81 games this first half, he has put up better numbers.

"Anthony is our foundation man. He's a clutch man," Baker said. "You need a base hit to right, you need a homer, you need an RBI, whatever that you need, Anthony is usually the guy that comes through. Especially hitting behind (Daniel Murphy), he's very, very important because they don't walk Murph to get to Anthony. Just shows the amount of respect that he has throughout the league."

Then there is the Nats No. 7 hitter, catcher Matt Wieters, who broke out of a recent down turn at the plate (.176 with 15 strikeouts last 18 games) to go 1-for-2 with a walk and three RBIs. Wieters delivered with a two-run single in the fifth and a sacrifice fly to left field in the seventh.

Wieters credited his work with Nationals hitting coach Rick Schu on RISP at-bats in recent days to helping him succeed Sunday.

"I've been working a lot with Schu, and it really felt pretty good with some of the strides we've made and some of the things we're tinkering with," Wieters said. "It's a good feeling going into the break and feeling like we're going in the right direction."

But those four hitters are the backbone of this Nats offense, which has the potential to continue to set records into the second half of the season. Baker was asked to compare this middle of the lineup with the one he played on with the Los Angeles Dodgers when they had it rolling in the early 1980's.

"When you have that amount of hitters together, you know -- I remember Enos Cabell telling us when we were playing the Astros, if you can keep us in the park we can beat ya," Baker said. "But the thing about it is, it's hard to keep you in the park as a unit, then on a day where all of them get you, you get a blowout.

"You're never out of a game. You feel very comfortable wherever you hit in the lineup. The opposition knows when you come in here that we're capable of exploding for a lot of runs in a short period of time."

Zimmerman heads into the break hitting .330. Although he went 0-for-3 Sunday, he still has had a solid first half and appreciates what this offense is capable of producing.

"Up and down the lineup, we pick each other up," Zimmerman said. "It's a fun lineup to be a part of."

Wieters said he will continue to get a lot of RISP opportunities because of the foursome that hits in front of him.

"You get positive on both sides," Wieters said. "You get to see those guys drive in a lot of runs, and then they're also on base a lot. It's not a bad place to hit behind those four guys."