Revere and Rendon ignite offense in 8-2 dispatch of Marlins

MIAMI - Ben Revere and Anthony Rendon were expected to be the igniters at the top of the order to begin the season for the Nationals offense.

But Revere missed 27 games with a strained right oblique and Rendon got off to a cold start.

Revere returned to the lineup May 6. In an attempt to mix things up, manager Dusty Baker moved Rendon down in the order last week.

On Sunday in Miami, both hitters played huge parts in the Nationals' offense explosion in an 8-2 series-clinching dispatch of the Marlins.

Revere had three hits, two stolen bases and two runs scored with two RBIs while Rendon slapped a double and triple with three RBIs as the Nationals finished up their second straight series victory with a blowout win.

Baker saw good things from both hitters as the offense put together 10 hits.

"Ben Revere, our igniter, had a big day," Baker said. "The first two runs were actually him. He made it easy on (Bryce Harper) getting to third in the first inning. That makes it easy. You don't have to get a clean hit, just a sacrifice fly, which (Harper) did.

"Anthony Rendon is starting to heat up quite a bit. Wilson (Ramos) continues to be hot. We had some good things happen today especially with the offense."

Revere said even though he came back from injury a little rusty, he was spurred on by his teammates to remain positive with each at-bat.

"It's always tough," Revere said on staying patient. "But with the good team we got, every single person here really had my back, with the struggle I was going through. It was kind of uplifting because although we're in first place there's only a couple guys including myself not hitting the ball.

"Of course Dusty, (hitting coach Rick) Schu all my teammates, all the coaches, (Mike) Rizzo they all had faith (saying) 'we know you can hit, so we ain't worried about it.'"

Revere got the offense rolling in the first inning with a base hit, stealing second and then moving to third on a sacrifice. He scored on a Bryce Harper sacrifice fly.

"It was good. This surface so bad here, my back be killing me," Revere smiled. "Try to get them early. We got Mad Max (Scherzer) going today, with a good pitcher like him get some early runs going good and early that's when he can go on cruise control. Plus the Marlins are (a) great hitting team so you got to get them early."

Revere said he finally started clicking in the last game of the Mets series, a 9-1 Nationals win.

"Last day in New York had a couple of good swings and that's when I kind of got the confidence boosting back up," Revere said. "I'm just trying to take it one day at a time and try do everything I can do to help this team win."

Baker said he never wavered on his confidence in Revere. He knew it would just take some time after the center fielder recovered from a strained right oblique.

"He's the same Ben that we traded for it's just that when you get hurt in the first game of the season and then you are operating from behind," Baker said. "He was (out) a month came back, he was hitting the ball well and nothing to show for it. Ben came out right away and got us on the board. I'm sure his confidence is a lot higher now than it was before because he was wondering what he had to do to get hits.

"Like I was telling everybody he just had to play and get his timing and his confidence back that he wasn't hurt anymore. That's the hardest thing about being hurt is that you're always fearful that you might hurt it again. But it look like he's off and rolling and hopefully he'll be hot in the New York series."

Even though Rendon doesn't follow Revere in the batting order any more, Revere still appreciates what the former Rice star can do to also charge up the offense. Rendon had a run-scoring double in third and a two-run triple in the ninth.

"I know he was kind of in the same bump as me a little bit," Revere said. "Of course, I've seen him hit so many times. He's one of those guys he can get 4-for-4 like that snap of a finger and do it again the next day. We got such a great lineup, great team. Everybody have each other back, like a family."

Baker said he is seeing Rendon's bat moving better through the zone, and he also sees his third baseman getting some breaks by just working each at-bat for a pitch he can handle.

"The main thing is he's getting the head out and he's getting some cheaper hits because he hits the ball hard most of the time," Baker said. "He hit one down the right field and he hit one down the left field. You can't place them where you want to but if you keep swinging and you have it built in something good is going to happen."