The Washington Nationals took a big lead with eight runs in the fourth, then held off a late Braves rally in an 11-9 win at Atlanta Saturday night.
Max Scherzer (13-7, 3.05 ERA, 0.96 WHIP) wasn’t his sharpest, getting the win after giving up four runs on six hits in six and a third innings, striking out six and walking three.
Scherzer was better at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two RBI.
The Nats had 17 hits on the night, with homers from Ryan Zimmerman (13), Daniel Murphy (23) and Trea Turner (4).
Murphy (.348/.391/.613) was 3-for-4. Bryce Harper (.244/386/.451), continuing his recent resurgence, was 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.
Zimmerman (.229/.288/.408), in his first game since July 31, was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI.
Anthony Rendon (.273/.354/.455) was 4-for-5 with three runs scored and a run batted in.
Washington (73-49) has a nine and a half game lead on Miami (64-59) in the NL East.