Have the Nationals suddenly found a new formula for winning baseball: Jumping out to an early lead against the opposing starter, then riding the strength of their suddenly improved bullpen to close out a narrow victory?

It’s certainly not the way the Nats tried to win games through most of the season’s first six weeks. But it’s sure working to perfection now, the latest – and perhaps most impressive – example coming tonight during a 5-3 triumph over the Braves.

Thanks to four early runs plated off the intimidating Spencer Strider, a workmanlike start out of Mitchell Parker and then 3 2/3 scoreless innings from their relievers, the Nationals won their fourth straight in impressive fashion.

"We talk so much about trying to beat up the starter and score first, and it's come to fruition the last couple days," manager Davey Martinez said. "It's been great. Our bullpen comes in with a little cushion; it's good for them, too. The boys are really playing well."

The only downside: Dylan Crews departed after the fifth inning, having felt something in his lower back/left side on a check-swing. The rookie center fielder, who homered for the second consecutive game, admitted he has been dealing with soreness in that area for the last week, since making a diving play in Atlanta, and it reached a point where he couldn't continue tonight.

"It kind of grabbed a little bit on the check-swing," said Crews, who added he's never dealt with any significant injury in his baseball-playing life. "It's unfortunate. It's something that's new to me."

Crews will get an MRI on Wednesday, the results of which will determine if he needs to go on the injured list. Regardless of the outcome of that test, Crews' situation and Jacob Young's continued left shoulder soreness have prompted the Nationals to summon top outfield prospect Robert Hassell III from Triple-A Rochester, a source familiar with the decision confirmed.

If Hassell (one of the five prospects acquired from the Padres in the 2022 trade for Juan Soto and Josh Bell) plays Wednesday (weather permitting), it will be his major league debut.

"We've got a lot of games left," said Crews, who has homered in back-to-back games. "If that means missing out a little bit of time, then I have to do that to come back stronger."

As encouraging as it was when they jumped on Kyle Gibson and Zach Eflin for a bunch of early runs over the weekend in Baltimore, the Nationals knew the challenge this week against the Braves pitching staff would be much stiffer, beginning tonight with Strider.

Strider, though, was returning from a hamstring strain, one that occurred after his first start back from Tommy John surgery. If ever there was an opportune time to take on the guy who led the National League in wins and strikeouts his last healthy season, this might have been it.

And sure enough, the Nats strung together quality at-bats right from the get-go against Strider. Four straight hits in the bottom of the first produced three runs, highlighted by Keibert Ruiz’s RBI double and Luis García Jr.’s RBI single.

The first-inning rally was jumpstarted by James Wood, who was given the green light on a 3-0 count and proceeded to rip a 104-mph single to left. Perhaps with that still in mind, Crews stepped to the plate in the bottom of the second, got himself into a 3-0 count and also got the green light. And proceeded to mash Strider’s fastball deep to left for his second homer in as many games, his seventh of the season.

"You want to be a little bit more picky on 3-0, for sure," Crews said. "It's 3-0. You've got to get a cookie. Get your pitch, get a cookie and take a good swing on it. That's what me and James did and were able to get some success out of it today."

Those four early runs proved all the Nationals would score against Strider, who surely was helped by the three outs his opponents ran themselves into on the bases in the first three innings alone, two of them in inexplicable fashion.

García committed the first gaffe, taking off from second base with two outs in the first and Strider having yet to begin his delivery. He was easily run down by the pitcher. CJ Abrams committed the next one to end the second inning, going first-to-third on Strider’s errant pickoff throw but then mistakenly thinking the subsequent throw to third got away, only to be tagged out as he and base coach Ricky Gutierrez looked at each other in bewildered fashion. (Wood’s traditional caught stealing in the third paled in comparison.)

"It's just them trying to be overaggressive," Martinez said. "CJ ... saw the guy jump and thought the ball went by him. Luis, honestly, I can't even tell you what he's thinking. I haven't approached him on it, because we're playing well, we're winning the game. I'll talk to him tomorrow about it."

Despite giving away outs like that, the Nationals still found themselves holding a 4-3 lead late into the game, thanks to a bounceback pitching performance from Parker, who not only overcame struggles in his previous outings but one rough inning early on tonight.

Parker, who had surrendered four or more runs in each of his last four starts, looked like he was headed down the same path when the Braves scored three times via four extra-base hits, all in the top of the second. Matt Olson’s leadoff homer got things started, then back-to-back-to-back doubles by Ozzie Albies, Eli White and Michael Harris II continued the rally and erased the Nats’ three-run lead.

Parker, though, settled in after that and turned in his best start in weeks. The lefty got a big double play out of Olson with two on in the third. That was the first of nine outs he recorded in a span of 10 batters, the lone Brave to reach base doing so via an infield single. Most importantly, he issued only one walk during his 5 1/3 innings of three-run ball, marked improvement from his recent downturn.

"Every game so far the last couple has been a step forward, in one way or another," Parker said. "Obviously, there's still things we're going to take into this next bullpen and work on. But we're definitely moving in the right direction."

The Nationals would tack on a key insurance run in the seventh when Nathaniel Lowe delivered a sacrifice fly off lefty reliever Dylan Lee, extending the lead to 5-3. Then it was just a matter of entrusting the rest of this game to a quietly improving bullpen.

That group was again up to the task. Cole Henry, Jose A. Ferrer, Jorge López and Kyle Finnegan combined to toss 3 2/3 innings, preserve the lead and continue a long-awaited upward trend. After combining for a major-league-worst 7.29 ERA through the first 39 games of the season, Nats relievers have delivered a 3.12 ERA over their last 10 games, shoring up the club’s primary weakness.

"I think we're just getting into the groove of the season a little bit," said Henry, who has been scored upon in only one of his 14 major league appearances to date. "Everybody's just trying to go out there and get outs and do what's best for this team. We're just trying to get wins and keep stacking them."