Nationals 5, Braves 3

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WASHINGTON -- Rick Ankiel has been on a tear since coming off the disabled list a month ago. Against the Atlanta Braves on Monday night he gave his best performance yet with two home runs in a 5-3 win.

Ankiel led off the bottom of the first with a homer to center field, and his homer in the fifth inning landed deep in the second deck in left. It was the fifth multihomer game of his career, and the solo shots gave Ankiel five home runs this season.

"Sometimes you say, 'It's not how far, it's how many,' but both of those were pretty far," teammate Jayson Werth said.

Werth is the only other National with a first-inning leadoff homer this season, doing it on June 16 against St. Louis.

Ankiel was hitting .204 with one home run and nine RBIs when he came off the disabled list on July 1 after recovering from a strained rib cage muscle. Since then, he's batting .351 with four homers and 10 RBI.

"One thing, he's getting to play," Nationals manager Davey Johnson said. "It's awfully hard to sit, especially if you're capable of being a power hitter like he is."

Atlanta second baseman Dan Uggla homered twice, in the second and ninth innings, giving him 22 this season. Uggla went 3 for 4, extending his career-long hitting streak to 23 games.

The Nationals have been one of the few teams to figure out Atlanta starter Jair Jurrjens (12-4), who allowed five runs and seven hits in five-plus innings and lost for the first time in eight starts. The last time Jurrjens faced the Nationals on July 17, he gave up six runs in five innings.

The two home runs he gave up to Ankiel marked only the second time this season Jurrjens has allowed more than one in a game.

"It seems like we hit him pretty well. I'm not really sure why, but hey, good for us," Ankiel said. "You go up there looking for a pitch to drive, and tonight it worked out."

Washington starter Livan Hernandez (6-10) allowed one run and six hits over six innings and drove in a run as the Nationals won their third straight. Drew Storen pitched the ninth for his 27th save.

Marlins 7, Mets 3 (10 Innings)

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NEW YORK -- After squandering a two-run lead on one sudden swing, it took the Florida Marlins just a few minutes to bounce right back.

Mike Stanton hit a grand slam in the 10th inning and Florida quickly recovered from Lucas Duda's tying homer with two outs in the ninth to beat the New York Mets 7-3 Monday night.

"It is deflating a little bit, but you've got to give our guys credit the way they rebounded and came up with four straight hits," Florida manager Jack McKeon said. "They didn't give up and say, 'Oh, tough luck.' We went right after them."

Mets nemesis Gaby Sanchez drove in two runs and singled to start the decisive rally. Stanton threw out Jose Reyes at the plate in the fifth, and Florida got seven strong innings from starter Javier Vazquez.

In the 10th, the Marlins took advantage of a mistake by first baseman Daniel Murphy.

Sanchez and Hanley Ramirez singled with one out off Jason Isringhausen (2-1). Dewayne Wise followed with a single and went tearing toward second base, not realizing the runners had held up in front of him.

Murphy cut off the throw from right field and had Wise hung up between first and second. But the first baseman got preoccupied with the runner at third and flipped too late to second baseman Justin Turner covering first as Wise scrambled safely back to the bag.

"I was trying to make sure the run didn't score and I got caught in no man's land," Murphy said. "It changed the whole inning. It was a bad play on my part. I've got to get it in somebody else's hands."

The 21-year-old Stanton worked a full count against Isringhausen and hit a screaming shot to left for his second career slam and first this season. It was his 25th home run of the year.

"The guy's a good hitter," Mets starter Mike Pelfrey said. "I think Major League Baseball might want to find a way to get him out of the game, because he's going to hurt somebody."

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