--1B Aaron Boone picked a good time to snap out of his long power drought. Boone clubbed a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth Sunday, bringing the Nationals back to beat the Braves, 8-4. It was Boone's first home run since May 27 at San Diego, and it came seconds after he fouled off a sacrifice bunt attempt. "Good job of not executing," he said about the botched bunt. "In a weird way, I think it kind of turned it in my favor. I think they still thought I was bunting, so (pitcher Elmer Dessens) really wanted to stay aggressive with me and I got a good pitch to hit."

--RHP Garrett Mock earned his first career win Sunday with a scoreless inning of relief against the Braves. Mock, who had been 0-3 as a starter, is having more success out of the bullpen. He's been scored upon in only two of his nine appearances, and opponents are hitting just .158 against him as a reliever compared to .328 as a starter. "Throwing out of the bullpen, I'm getting a little more used to it," he said.

--RHP Collin Balester didn't figure in the decision in Washington's 8-4 win over Atlanta on Sunday, but the rookie right-hander did last seven innings for the first time in his brief career. Balester, who has frequently had trouble retiring batters the more times they see him in a game, retired 12 of the last 14 men he faced this time, an encouraging sign for Balester. "It was very important that he was able to make the adjustment after the first part of the game, and that way allowed himself to go deeper in the game," manager Manny Acta said. "He just made the adjustment and was able to give us a real good seven innings."

BY THE NUMBERS: 2 -- Players who have hit for the cycle as member of the Nationals: Brad Wilkerson (April 6, 2005) and Cristian Guzman (Aug. 28, 2008).

QUOTE TO NOTE: "Everybody was saying, 'Hit the triple, hit the triple.' And I said, 'Ok, I'll try.'" -- Cristian Guzman, on tripling in his final at-bat Thursday night to hit for the cycle.