A week ago the Nationals were reeling, returning home after losing four of six on the West Coast.
Now they are rolling, winning a season-high six games in a row with a 7-3 victory on Friday at Nationals Park over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Bryce Harper (2-for-5), batting leadoff for the fourth game in a row, hit home runs in his first two trips to the plate and drove in three runs. He also hit the ball very hard two other times, flying out to deep center in the third and lining out to center in the sixth.
Left fielder Matt Adams blasted a home run and also stole a homer with a catch up against the fence in front of the Phillies bullpen on a drive-by Maikel Franco.
Washington, with 42 homers this season, was 12-16 on Monday and had lost 16 of their previous 24 games. Now they have the longest winning streak in the big leagues and are just three games back of the first-place Atlanta Braves.
The offense has come to life and the Nationals are first in the league in walks and steals and entered the game second in the league in homers. Harper has 12 homers to pace the National League.
Nationals left-hander starter Gio Gonzalez (4-2) got the win as he allowed no runs and two hits in five innings. He returned to the mound in the fifth following a rain delay of 39 minutes in the last of the fourth.
Gonzalez pitched out of a jam before some fans had found their seats.
The Phillies loaded the bases in the top of the first as third baseman Wilmer Difo made an error with two outs. But Gonzalez got slumping Carlos Santana, a big free agent signee, to hit into a fielder’s choice to end the inning and prevent any early damage.
Gonzalez was replaced by reliever Trever Gott, who gave up two homers in the sixth as the Phillies trimmed the lead to 7-3.
After he gave up a homer to Franco, Gott was looked at by head athletic trainer Paul Lessard and was taken out of the game. That brought in rookie right-hander Wander Suero, who made his big league debut earlier in the week and got five outs Friday.
The Nationals will aim for their seventh win in a row Saturday at 4:05 p.m. as Tanner Roark gets the start against the Phillies, though rain is in the forecast. Third baseman Anthony Rendon, who has been on the disabled list since April 22, could return to the lineup for the Nationals after playing Friday for Single-A Potomac of the Carolina League.
Difo has been doing a more than adequate job at third, with two hits Friday and 11 in his last seven games.
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