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LaRoche powers Nats over O's

May 29, 2013 - 5:12 AM Washington, DC (Sports Network) - Adam LaRoche registered his 22nd career multi-home run game while Roger Bernadina and Tyler Moore also went deep, as the Washington Nationals crushed the Baltimore Orioles, 9-3, in the finale of a two-game interleague set at Nationals Park.

LaRoche finished with four RBI, Moore and Bernadina each drove in two runs and Denard Span added an RBI double for the Nationals, who split the first two games of this series before the action heads to Baltimore for two more contests.

Zach Duke (1-1) earned the win after relieving Washington starter Nate Karns in the fifth.

In a matchup of relatively inexperienced pitchers -- Baltimore's Kevin Gausman, making his second career major league start versus Karns, making his MLB debut -- the Nationals plated four runs in the fourth to break a 3-3 tie and take control.

"I thought the kid pitched great," Nationals manager Davey Johnson said of Karns. "He should be proud of what he did, that's a hot-hitting ball club."

Chris Davis and J.J. Hardy both hit solo homers and Matt Wieters provided a an RBI double for the Orioles in defeat. Gausman (0-2) allowed seven runs on eight hits over four frames to absorb the loss.

"He elevated some fastballs," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said of Gausman. "We had a tough time keeping the ball in the ballpark."

The Orioles tied the game 3-3 in the fourth thanks to solo homers from Davis and Hardy, but Washington returned the favor in the home half and broke open the game.

LaRoche drew a leadoff walk before Gausman forced Ian Desmond to fly out. The next two batters, however, proved to be the right-hander's demise.

Moore fell behind in the count, 0-2, but managed to foul off a fastball before belting the next offering over the right-field fence for a 5-3 Nationals lead. Not to be out done, Bernadina clubbed a 1-2 pitch into the bullpen in right- center to extend the lead to 6-3.

Baltimore decided to stick with Gausman, even after Kurt Suzuki singled and Karns moved him to second with a sacrifice bunt. Span, though, followed with a RBI double to make it 7-3.

LaRoche smacked his second homer to open up the eighth and Bernadina brought home Desmond two batters later to round out the scoring.

Washington wasted no time versus Gausman and struck for three runs during its first at-bat. Steve Lombardozzi and Ryan Zimmerman hit consecutive one-out singles, before LaRoche drove a shot over the right-field wall to give the Nationals a 3-0 lead.

Baltimore responded in the second, as Wieters' double down the right-field line bounced off the wall awkwardly, allowing Davis to score all the way from first to make it 3-1.

Game Notes

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper missed his second consecutive game due to bursitis in his left knee ... The Nationals recalled Karns from Double-A Harrisburg and optioned pitcher Xavier Cedeno to Triple-A Syracuse prior to the game. Karns replaced scheduled starter Ross Detwiler, who went on the disabled list Sunday ... The Orioles had scored at least five runs in each of their last 10 road games for the longest streak in franchise history ... Baltimore outfielder Nick Markakis had a 12-game hitting streak come to an end ... Karns became the first Nationals hurler to make his major league debut in a starting role since Tommy Milone on Sept. 3, 2011 ... Karns allowed three runs on five hits and two walks over 4 1/3 innings.