Nationals club 6 homers in 11-5 victory over Cubs

Adam LaRoche hit two of Washington's six homers, Ian Desmond had four RBIs and the Nationals beat the Chicago Cubs 11-5 on Tuesday night.

LaRoche and Jayson Werth had four hits apiece for the Nationals, who opened a season-high 7½-game advantage in the division. Second-place Atlanta lost to Colorado 6-0.

Desmond, Jesus Flores, Tyler Moore and Ryan Zimmerman also went deep. The six home runs matched a team record, and every Nationals starter had at least one hit.

"We owe this to our pitchers for bailing us out," LaRoche said.

"It goes back to getting a lot of guys going well. You see better pitches. Everybody gets better pitches to hit. There's nobody to really pitch around because you get somebody dangerous on deck."

Werth and Michael Morse missed substantial time this season because of injuries, and Desmond was out for 3½ weeks with an oblique strain. The Nationals have had all three together since Aug. 17.

"We're in a pretty good place offensively," manager Davey Johnson said. "I like the lineup we have. We haven't had the lineup together very long."

Nationals right-hander Edwin Jackson (9-9) allowed four runs and seven hits in 5 2-3 innings. He struck out eight and walked one.

Washington has scored 19 runs in Jackson's last two starts.

"There's definitely nobody in the clubhouse that's going to complain about run support," Jackson said.

Desmond hit a two-run drive off Chris Rusin (0-2) in the first for his 20th homer. The All-Star shortstop added a two-run double in Washington's three-run second.

Rusin, who was recalled from Double-A Tennessee before the game, was pulled after the first four batters reached in the second. He was charged with five runs and eight hits in the Cubs' shortest start of the season.

"Without breaking balls you better keep it down and you better have movement and today he didn't have either," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said.