More opportunities for Moore helped solve Bumgarner

Tyler Moore knew he had to try a different approach against Madison Bumgarner.

In the second inning Saturday, Moore led off and struck out. Arriving to the plate in the fourth, with his team leading 3-0, Danny Espinosa at first base and one out, he had a shot at creating a rally. But Moore knew he had to change his approach because the first at-bat didn't work out.

Coming into Saturday's game, Moore was just 1-for-12 (.083) in six games in his career against the Giants, with three walks and four strikeouts. After that first at-bat, Moore was 0-for-11 with five strikeouts against Bumgarner.

"I think I faced him two or three times and didn't have a hit, I don't think," Moore said. "It's tough. After my first strikeout, I decided I was going to get started a little bit earlier, not try (to) do as much. Just get started a little bit earlier, see the ball better. It ended up working out."

Saturday they teed off on Bumgarner, who allowed a season-high eight hits. The Nationals had three extra-base hits versus Bumgarner in the first inning, scoring three times. Michael A. Taylor and Bryce Harper hit homers in the first frame.

Moore's RBI double in the fourth inning made it 4-0 Nationals.

Moore finished the day 3-for-4 with two doubles and four RBIs. His career-high was five RBIs on June 13, 2012, at Toronto in a game where he hit two homers.

"It was fortunate," Moore said of the quick start against San Francisco. "We came out swinging the bat aggressively. Bumgarner is not real fun to face all the time. He's a real good pitcher. Mikey T. set the tone. And Harper came up with another homer and we kind of rolled with that."

Last postseason, Bumgarner tossed a complete-game 8-0 shutout of the Pirates in the National League Wild Card Game to get to the Nationals in the National League Division Series. In Game 3 of that battle, the Nationals found a way to score three runs off of him in the seventh in a 4-1 victory over the Giants. This time, they went after Bumgarner early on.

"His fastball gets on you," Moore said. "He's real deceptive. His secondary stuff is pretty sharp, too. He's a tough pitcher. We tried not really grind him out, tried to be more aggressive today and ended up paying off."

The Nationals have now won seven of their last nine regular season games against San Francisco. But the NLDS loss is always a bad memory. The Nationals are hoping for another shot at the Giants in the postseason this year. A sweep today would be a nice way to build some confidence for an October rematch.

"It's a tough club over there," Moore said. "They always have been and they know how to play the game the right way, and it's good to see us come through with the two wins and hopefully tomorrow we'll get another one."

The Nationals have arrived at the halfway mark at 45-36, despite injuries to pretty much every starter in the lineup. They still are without Jayson Werth, Ryan Zimmerman and Anthony Rendon, but Taylor, Clint Robinson and Moore have gotten into a nice groove during the recent run. Moore said the Nats figured out a way to bear down after a slow start to the season.

"We had all these expectations," Moore said. "Just want to flush all that stuff out and it really doesn't matter. Obviously, we want those guys back with injuries, but we can't use that as an excuse. I think the bench has done a decent job of coming in and stepping in for those guys. We want those guys back as soon as possible, but if not, we're going to keep rolling."

Manager Matt Williams used an unintended pun when describing how Moore and the bench have come through for the Nationals, keeping them at the top of the NL East.

"More opportunities," Williams said. "It's not ideal. It's not the way we planned it, to have so many guys out, but it gives opportunity to Tyler and Clint and Michael to get in there and get consistent at-bats. The more they do the better timing they have and the more productive they can be."