Nationals 11, Cubs 5: Ian Desmond hit one of Washington's six home runs and finished with four RBIs, and Adam LaRoche had two homers among his four hits as the National League East-leading Nationals won for the sixth time in seven games.

Jesus Flores, Tyler Moore and Ryan Zimmerman also homered for the Nationals, who own the best record in the majors and extended their division lead to 7 1/2 games over Atlanta. Jayson Werth also had four hits for Washington, which has claimed the first two games of the four-game series.

Nationals starter Edwin Jackson (9-9) allowed four runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out eight and went 2-for-3 with a run scored.

Alfonso Soriano drove in three of the Cubs' five runs, just missing a homer on a two-run triple to left in the sixth and hitting his 26th homer of the year in the eighth.

Cubs left-hander Chris Rusin (0-2) was shelled in his second major-league start. He failed to record an out in the second inning and was charged with five runs on eight hits. Rusin allowed Desmond's two-run homer in the first and Flores' leadoff blast in the second. Desmond chased him with a two-run double in the second, the last of four consecutive hits to start the inning.

The Cubs have dropped 26 of 34 overall, and have lost six straight and 15 of 16 on the road. Washington has won four of five meetings this season.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Nationals' six homers are the most ever for a Washington team in a home game and marked the club record since moving to D.C. in 2005. … Zimmerman extended his hitting streak to nine games. … LaRoche has homered in consecutive games and in three of the last four. … Rusin allowed nine of the 11 batters he faced to reach base. … RHP Jaye Chapman made his major-league debut, the 11th Cubs player to do so this season. … The Cubs have used a franchise-record 29 pitchers this season, and they've set a club record by using 52 players (20 rookies). … Nationals RHP Christian Garcia made his major-league debut. … The Nationals activated RHP Chien-Ming Wang from the disabled list. … The crowd of 17,648 was the smallest at Nationals Park since April.