Nationals vs. Blue Jays: Stephen Strasburg, Tyler Moore power Washington to sixth straight win

TORONTO — The delirious charm of this Washington Nationals season scraped a new high Wednesday afternoon. It is not enough for them to continue their rampage through the two toughest divisions in baseball. They did it as Stephen Strasburg chucked aspirin tablets past the Toronto Blue Jays, and as a Southern-fried, country-strong rookie came off the bench and blasted the first two home runs of his career. “It just keeps getting better,” Tyler Moore said. “It’s a fun place to be.”

On a sun-drenched diamond inside Rogers Centre, the Nationals completed the first perfect six-game trip since baseball returned to Washington with a 6-2 thumping of the Blue Jays. Moore filled in for Adam LaRoche at first base and drove in the first five RBI of his career. Strasburg struck out eight over six innings, becoming the first major leaguer this year to reach 100 strikeouts, before Manager Davey Johnson removed him — against his wishes — with a cut on his middle finger.

The Nationals have played their last 23 games against the National League and American League East. They have gone 15-8 in those games and lead the NL East by five games and the last-place Philadelphia Phillies by 9¹ / ₂.

“We knew we could do it,” Johnson said. “We’re no longer a secret to anybody.”

The baseball world will turn Friday to Washington, where Nationals Park will host a weekend showdown between the first-place New York Yankees and the first-place Nationals, baseball’s old money and its furious upstarts. The Nationals will enter confident in their standing, but hungry for more.

“It’s great what we’ve done,” third baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. “We’re happy about it and proud of it. But we know it doesn’t mean anything.”

The Nationals have risen to their lofty status both riding and producing the fevered joy that comes when a new hero emerges each game. With LaRoche nursing a sore right foot after fouling a ball off it on Tuesday night, the Nationals turned to Moore, the 25-year-old Mississippian who started the year at Class AAA Syracuse and had slugged 62 homers over the past two seasons in the minor leagues.

In his first stint in the major leagues earlier this season, Moore appeared sparingly and went 3 for 19 with seven strikeouts. He learned that, while not playing every day, he needed to be more aggressive.

“The first time, I didn’t really know what I was going to be doing coming off the bench,” said Moore, who was recalled from Syracuse last week. “I felt more comfortable with what I had to do.”

Wednesday, he gave himself a memory. In his first at-bat, he came to the plate with two runners in scoring position and crushed a double to left-center field off of starter Kyle Drabek, giving Strasburg a 2-0 lead.

After the Blue Jays tied the score in the third inning, Moore struck again. In the fourth, with one man on base, he clobbered a two-run homer to left field, the first of his career. He circled the bases with his lips clenched.

“He was trying not to smile, I think,” said fellow rookie Steve Lombardozzi, who played with Moore for three years in the minors.