Rendon rolls again; joining Harper on milestone lists in 9-4 win

The Nationals' offense got a chance to really open up the game in the seventh with six runs to roll past the Marlins 9-4 for a series victory Tuesday night at Nats Park.

With the win, the Nationals (80-78) finally move back into second place in the NL East, ahead of the uber-slumping Phillies. Colorado defeated Philadelphia 10-3.

Anthony Rendon led the hit parade again, going 3-for-3 with a single, double, homer and four RBIs.

The third baseman now has an 11-game hitting streak and a current major league-leading 33 straight games on-base streak.

Adam Eaton had two hits, two walks and two RBIs.

Bryce Harper walked three times, scored twice and smacked a double.

Ryan Zimmerman had a two-run single.

Matt Wieters with three hits, including an double and an RBI.

All in support of Max Scherzer's (18-7) career milestone start: seven innings and 10 strikeouts, to reach 300 for his career.

The Nats scored three times in the first inning on a Rendon three-run shot. They sent 11 men to the plate in the seventh and scored six runs on five hits.

Rendon's two extra base hits give him 68 on the season, also a new career-high.

He is batting a career-high .312 with 24 homers and 91 RBIs.

Manager Davey Martinez continues to marvel at this run for Rendon.

"He's on fire," Martinez said. "This is Anthony Rendon. He works good at-bats. He really does. He uses the whole field. His last at-bat there, fouling off pitches, fouling off tough pitches, and all of a sudden hitting the ball to right center-field off the wall. That's impressive."

With four games left, one in D.C. and three in the hitting-friendly Coors Field, Rendon has a shot at 100 RBIs.

"He's got a chance to get 100 RBIs himself," Martinez said. "He's got to knock in a bunch of runs. But he still has a chance. I'm really excited about what he's doing and how he's doing it. He's a professional. He's going about his business every day. As we all know, he just wants to go low-key and just play the game."

Harper reached 100 RBIs Monday night and Tuesday he got to 100 runs. He also has 129 walks.

He joins six other players to accomplish 100 RBIs, runs and walks in the same season: José Ramirez also did it this season. Also on the list: Paul Goldschmidt (2015), Aaron Judge (2017), Joey Votto (2017), Mike Trout (2016) and José Bautista (2015, 2014).

The impact of the triple 100's goes deeper for Harper:

He is the fourth player 25 or younger to reach 100 RBIs, 100 runs and 128 walks in a season alongside Ted Williams (1941, 1942), Babe Ruth (1920) and Frank Thomas (1991).

He is the 22nd player in major league history to reach 100 RBIs, 100 runs and 125 walks in a season.