Double-digit Nats: Club scores 10-plus in 3rd straight

CHICAGO -- This is what the Nationals envisioned when they stated numerous times this season that their lineup had yet to play to its full potential.
Their offense erupted for 18 hits, including four homers, in an 11-4 rout of the White Sox on Wednesday night at U.S. Cellular Field, scoring at least 10 runs for the third consecutive game. This is only the second time in Nationals history (June 26-28, 2012, all at Colorado) that the team has scored double-digit runs in three consecutive games.
"You know you're not going to score that many runs every day, but you've got to take them when you get them," manager Dusty Baker said. "The fact is, we are scoring runs, and we're scoring them on the road."
While it would be unfair for them to expect to score 10 runs per game, the Nationals have believed all season that their lineup can be one of the deepest in baseball. Lately, they have been showing signs to support that.
The 18 hits were a season high, and each player in the starting lineup recorded at least one hit. Four Nationals -- Ryan Zimmerman, Stephen Drew, Danny Espinosa and Jayson Werth -- homered. Bryce Harper, Ben Revere, Espinosa and Werth each had three hits. Wilson Ramos extended his hitting streak to seven games.

"This could be a dangerous lineup," Revere said. "I know we got a few guys in there trying to feel out their swings -- I'm one of them -- but it's just when every single body gets on the same page, we're going to be a fun team to watch.
"It's one of those deals that I'm going to be excited to see it when everybody in the lineup starts clicking. This whole team starts hitting well, we're going to be a really tough team to beat."

The Nationals came into this game seventh in the National League in runs, but they have been better offensively lately with guys like Zimmerman, Werth and Anthony Rendon starting to get hot again. As right-hander Max Scherzer watched his team's offense from the visiting clubhouse, he came away impressed with the entire lineup's approach.
"All the guys were just fouling off pitches, and any time there was a mistake, they hammered it," Scherzer said. "They just had a great approach staying within themselves and waiting for that mistake. When they got it, they capitalized on it. That was the reason that we were able to score all those runs early in the game, and really from a one-through-nine standpoint, everybody showed up."