Washington Nationals' leadoff man Denard Span got the Nats out to an early 1-0 lead today, going the other way for an opposite field single off San Diego Padres' starter Robbie Erlin in the first and then scoring on an opposite field single to left by Bryce Harper after a wild pitch and groundout had moved Span around to third.
The Padres tied things up at 1-1 in the third when Stephen Strasburg hit Carlos Quentin with a two-strike change and gave up a double to center and off the GEICO wall by Chase Headley on the next pitch.
The Nationals went back up when they loaded the bases on walks by Stephen Strasburg and Ian Desmond and infield single by Bryce Harper. Ryan Zimmerman's 10th home run of 2013 was a grand slam that went out to right over the out-of-town scoreboard to give Washington a 5-1 lead in the third. A Jayson Werth single followed and Anthony Rendon crushed a 1-2 heater for a two-run home run to left that landed in the visitor's bullpen and gave the Nationals a 7-1 lead.
• Zimmerman's Slam:
Strasburg walked Nick Hundley with one out in the fourth and gave up a bomb of a two-run home to right by Alexi Amarista that landed in the second deck above the Nats' bullpen to make it a 7-3 game.
Back-to-back walks to Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman in the fifth ended Robbie Erlin's day and both runners scored when Harper stole second, took third on a pitch in the dirt and scored on a throwing error when Zimmerman stole second. Zimmerman came around on an Anthony Rendon single to right after Jayson Werth walked and the Nationals went up 9-3 over the Padres in the fifth. Wilson Ramos grounded into a double play for the first out of the fifth, but another run scored on the play and it was 10-3 Nationals after three in the nation's capital. Stephen Strasburg to drive in the Nats' 11th run. 11-3.
A 22-pitch sixth in which he gave up a run on a bases-loaded groundout ended Strasburg's day after 6.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 9 Ks, 111 P, 68 S, 4/2 GO/FO with the Nationals up 11-4.
The Padres' scored two runs on Craig Stammen in the seventh to get within five at 11-6. Three singles in the eighth brought in San Diego's seventh run and ended Stammen's outing, but Drew Storen came on to get the next three outs without another run scoring. 11-7 Nats after seven and a half.
Tyler Clippard came on to end it with a scoreless top of the ninth and the Nationals swept the three-game set with the Padres.
The sweep gave the Nationals four straight wins and they improved to four games over .500 at 46-42.