Nationals 16, Rays 4
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Washington Nationals set season highs with 23 hits and 16 runs, and they ended the Tampa Bay Rays' four-game winning streak in a big way with a 16-4 victory Tuesday at Tropicana Field.
Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper and first baseman Clint Robinson each finished a triple shy of hitting for the cycle.
Washington (34-31) plays host to Tampa Bay (36-30) for the next two games, having set the season high for runs and hits for a Rays opponent. Tampa Bay hadn't given up more than eight runs in a game since May 11, in an 11-5 loss to the Yankees.
The Rays used infielders Jake Elmore and Nick Franklin as relievers, with Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos homering off both, in the eighth and ninth innings.
Nationals second baseman Danny Espinosa set a career high with five hits, and Robinson topped his high mark with four hits.
With a depleted bullpen, the Rays allowed Elmore and Franklin to pitch the eighth and ninth innings, respectively. Elmore's second pitch was a solo home run by Ramos for a 14-1 lead. It was Elmore's second career pitching appearance, as he threw one inning in a 2013 game.
The outings by Elmore and Franklin marked the fourth and fifth time a Rays position player has pitched, the most recent being outfielder Sam Fuld in 2013.
Not to be outdone, the Nationals used pitcher Joe Ross as a pinch hitter for the designated hitter in the ninth inning -- he popped out, appropriately, to the pitcher. Ramos then hit a two-run home run to make it a 16-1 game.
Nationals starter Tanner Roark (3-2) gave up one run in seven innings.
Tampa Bay catcher Rene Rivera hit a three-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth off Nationals closer Drew Storen.
The Nationals jumped out to a 10-1 lead after five innings, tagging Rays pitchers for 12 hits, with all the scoring coming in the second and fifth innings.
Washington matched its highest-scoring inning of the season with a six-run second, a 43-pitch nightmare that sent Rays starter Alex Colome to an early exit. Colome gave up five hits and three walks -- one with the bases loaded -- in the inning.
Robinson led off the second with a huge home run to right field -- his second of the season -- and two bunt singles and two walks ensued. Designated hitter Yunel Escobar had a two-run single with the bases loaded, Ramos had a sacrifice fly and Robinson added an RBI double in his second at-bat of the inning. The inning finally ended with an out at the plate on a relay throw from Rays shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera.
Colome (3-3) yielded six runs on seven hits and lasted only two innings, putting a burden on a Rays bullpen that has been overworked of late. Lefty C.J. Riefenhauser pitched a scoreless third and fourth, using a combined 14 pitches, only to give up a solo home run in the fifth to Harper, his 22nd of the season.
Washington added three runs in the fifth. The Nationals got RBI singles from left fielder Michael Taylor and shortstop Ian Desmond, then scored another run after center fielder Denard Span reached on an error by Rays left fielder David DeJesus.
NOTES: The Nationals will get RHP Doug Fister -- out since May 15 with right forearm tightness -- back on Thursday, when he will start at home against the Rays. ... One day after he left Monday's game with a bruised left wrist from being hit by a pitch, Rays 3B Evan Longoria started and went 2-for-2. ... The Rays should benefit from the Tampa Bay Lightning finishing a postseason run to the Stanley Cup final, which took away from attendance at Tropicana Field when the two teams played on the same nights. ... Rays LHP Matt Moore, returning from Tommy John surgery performed last year, had a rehab start for Class A Charlotte on Tuesday. He threw 78 pitches (49 strikes) in 4 2/3 innings, giving up four hits and two runs, striking out three and walking none. He is likely to return in early July.