Nationals 9, Braves 2
WASHINGTON -- Washington right fielder Bryce Harper had two home runs and five RBIs and second baseman Danny Espinosa also had two homers as the Washington Nationals hit five home runs to beat the Atlanta Braves 9-2 on Friday.
Harper, who had three hits, now has five homers and 10 RBIs in his last two games at the age of 22. He also has 10 homers and 25 RBIs this season and leads the majors in walks with 26.
He added two insurance runs in the eighth as he blasted the first pitch from reliever Williams Perez, who was making his big league debut, over the wall in right. Espinosa then hit his second homer, a two-run shot, later in the inning.
Harper had given the Nationals a 3-2 lead in the sixth when he hit a two-run homer just over the wall in left-center against starter Eric Stults (1-3).
Espinosa hit a solo homer in the seventh against reliever Brandon Cunniff as the Nationals grabbed a 4-2 lead before Harper brought the crowd to its feet again the eighth. All of the Washington runs came on homers.
With the win, Washington (15-15) is now 10-5 against the Braves (14-15) since June 21, 2014. The Nationals are at .500 for the first time since Opening Day and have won eight of their last 11 games.
Stults, who beat the Nationals at home on April 27, allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings. He had a season-high seven strikeouts and no walks but gave up homers to Harper and Jayson Werth, who each had two hits.
Gio Gonzalez (3-2), the Washington starter, yielded five this and two runs with eight strikeouts and one walk. He was effectively wild as he threw 103 pitches, 67 for strikes, as he beat the Braves for the first time at Nationals Park and the first time overall since July 1, 2012, in Atlanta.
Rookie lefty Matt Grace got three outs in the eighth for the Nationals and Blake Treinen pitched the ninth.
Atlanta first baseman Freddie Freeman had two doubles and has eight hits in his last three games. First baseman Ryan Zimmerman of the Nationals also had two hits.
The teams have combined to win the last three titles in the National League east, with the Nationals taking the crown in 2012 and 2014.
The Nationals cut the lead to 2-1 in the fourth on a leadoff homer by Werth, who stroked first homer of the season in his 76th trip to the plate.
Stults escaped possibly more damage as Harper, after singling to center as the next batter, was thrown out at first after he rounded the bag too far.
Atlanta had opened a 2-0 advantage in the top of the fourth on a RBI double by Freeman, who batted .475 in 10 games at Nationals Park last season. His hit scored shortstop Andrelton Simmons, who singled.
Left fielder Jonny Gomes, batting cleanup for the first time this year, had a sacrifice fly in the first that scored Simmons to give the Braves a 1-0 lead. Simmons was hit by a pitch with one out and went to third on a double to right-center field by Freeman.
Washington catcher Wilson Ramos extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a single in the second against Stults, who was 8-17 last season for the San Diego Padres.
NOTES: The Braves have now used a different lineup in every game this season. ... The scheduled starters for the second game of the series on Saturday are Atlanta RHP Julio Teheran (3-1, 3.82 ERA) against Washington RHP Doug Fister (2-1, 2.61). ... Washington RHP Stephen Strasburg will need to throw a bullpen session on Saturday if he is to make his scheduled start on Monday in Arizona, manager Matt Williams said. Strasburg left his last start, at home on Tuesday against the Miami Marlins, after three innings when he complained of an irritation under his right shoulder blade. He threw on a flat surface for a few minutes after Washington played a day game on Wednesday at home. ... Washington LF Jayson Werth was back in the starting lineup after he missed the two previous games with a "cranky" shoulder, Williams said. Werth had right shoulder surgery in January and entered Friday hitting .176 with no homers in 74 at-bats. ... Atlanta 1B Freddie Freeman entered with a .324 average in 37 games at Nationals Park during his career. He had three hits on Tuesday and three hits on Wednesday for the Braves, who were off Thursday and began a nine-game, 10-day road trip Friday.