Braves 9, Nationals 0: Andrelton Simmons hit a three-run homer and Paul Maholm tossed 7 2/3 shutout innings as visiting Atlanta completed a three-game sweep of Washington to stretch its winning streak to nine.

Chris Johnson went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and Justin Upton hit his major league-leading seventh homer as the Braves improved to 11-1, the franchise’s best start since winning 13 of 14 games to begin the 1994 season.

Maholm (3-0) struck out seven and allowed four hits with one walk in his third consecutive strong outing. The left-hander has not allowed a run in 20 1/3 innings this season.

Atlanta struck three times off Washington’s Gio Gonzalez (1-1) in the first inning with Evan Gattis doubling home one and Johnson delivering a two-run single. Upton hit a solo homer to right-center field in the third and Simmons hit his three-run blast to left later in the inning to make it 7-0.

Gonzalez left after allowing seven runs and seven hits in five innings. The Braves’ onslaught continued in the sixth as Jason Heyward added a run-scoring double and Gattis hit a sacrifice fly to boost the lead to nine.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Washington placed C Wilson Ramos (hamstring) on the disabled list and recalled C Jhonatan Solano from Triple-A Syracuse. … Maholm was only 1-6 against the Nationals before shutting them down in the series finale. … Nationals 2B Danny Espinosa left Sunday’s game after the fourth inning with a sore right hand two innings after being hit by Maholm’s pitch.