Quad strain forces Rendon back to DL

WASHINGTON -- The Nationals placed infielder Anthony Rendon on the 15-day disabled list with a left quadriceps strain and selected the contract of infielder Emmanuel Burriss from Triple-A Syracuse on Friday.

Outfielder Reed Johnson was also transferred to the 60-day disabled list.

This marks the second trip to the disabled list this season for Rendon, who missed the first 52 games of the season because of a left knee sprain and left oblique strain. Rendon hurt his quad in the sixth inning this past Saturday after an RBI double against the Pirates.

"I felt it coming out of the box and then I had to score on [Bryce] Harper's single," Rendon said. "I wanted to play through it."

Rendon played the next three games with the injury. He had an MRI recently and "it showed some pretty good changes in [the quad]," manager Matt Williams said.

Rendon traveled with the Nationals to Philadelphia, and he is allowed to do some baseball activities like swinging the bat.

"The good part about the injury, he can keep his swing, keep his timing as much as possible although it's just BP," Williams said. "He will stay with us during the road trip and get some work done. Hopefully, it's just for a couple of weeks."

Burriss was the happiest man in the clubhouse. A native of Washington, D.C., Burriss is with a Major League club for the first time since 2012, when he was with the Giants. He wanted to play for the Nationals ever since the team's first season in '05.

Video: WSH@ATL: Burriss makes a diving snag to rob Callaspo

"With the Nationals, that's everything I've been hoping for," Burris said.

Burris was batting .278 at Syracuse before his promotion. It comes a year after posting a slash line of .300/.377/.412.

Earlier this year, Burriss was given an invitation to Spring Training, but he was sent back to Syracuse after a slow start. He acknowledged that he put a lot of pressure on himself. He wanted to impress a lot of people, and he got outside his swing. He said he is grateful the Nationals didn't give up on him.

Once he returned to the Minors, Burriss did a lot of work in the cage. He made sure his approach and swing were right. Burriss credits Syracuse hitting coach Joe Dillon for his success at the plate.

"I give him a lot of the credit for being able to put in those hours, getting things straight," Burriss said.