CHICAGO – The first hit the Washington Nationals recorded in Wednesday night’s 11-4 win over the White Sox came against James Shields, the starter Chicago acquired last week. It was a weak roller up the third base line, sent there intentionally by Bryce Harper when the shifted infield left no one nearby.

The second hit blooped softly into right field, sent there by Daniel Murphy, who golfed a two-strike pitch. He drove in a run, thereby ending any hopes Shields might have had for his first South Side shutout.

The next three Nationals hits were home runs, from Ryan Zimmerman, Stephen Drew and Danny Espinosa, thereby reducing Shields’s debut to a debacle. They knocked the right-hander from the game after two-plus innings and gave a six-run lead to their right-hander Max Scherzer, who has never lost as a National when given such support.

Shields was not alone in his inability to quiet the Nationals’ suddenly relentless attack. They scored 10 runs or more for the third straight game, marking the second time in Nationals history they have compiled such a streak. After those hits by Harper and Murphy, the Nationals collected 16 more, for a season-high 18. They upped their National League-leading home run total to 81 in 59 games and moved a season-high 13 games over .500 at 36-23.

Staked to a four-run lead before he took the mound, Scherzer threw three perfect innings before Adam Eaton led off the fourth with a double.

The closest Scherzer came to trouble was in the fifth inning, when Melky Cabrera led off with a single and Jimmy Rollins followed with a walk. Scherzer got two outs, then yielded a single to right by designated hitter Avisail Garcia. The White Sox sent Rollins. Harper threw him out, a one-hopper, by a few feet, his second outfield assist of the season.

Scherzer threw seven strong innings and did not allow a home run for the first time in seven starts. He pitched efficiently enough to preserve a bullpen that has been taxed of late, scattering five hits with six strikeouts and one walk. Scherzer has now lasted at least seven innings in each of his past four starts, and after an 111-pitch night against Philadelphia in his last outing, he threw a relatively low-stress 97 Wednesday.

But for the third day running, the story was the lively Nationals offense, which has now scored 31 runs over its past three games, its most prolific three-day stretch of the season. Every starter got at least one hit. Five had more than one. All but one, Anthony Rendon, reached base safely at least twice.

Ben Revere, who went hitless through eight games prior to Sunday, went 3 for 6 and is now 6 for his past 13. Jayson Werth went 3 for 5 with a walk and a three-run home run, giving him hits in seven of his past eight games.

After his bunt single in the first, Harper knocked a double down the still-open third base line. He singled a few innings later to finish 3 for 6 and now has seven hits in his past 14 at-bats.

For the second evening in a row, the NL’s leading hitter, Murphy, was one of the quieter Nationals, going 1 for 4. At times this spring, even last week in Philadelphia, Murphy was one of few consistent threats in the middle of the order. Others are re-emerging now.

One of them is Zimmerman, who followed Harper and Murphy’s hits with a no-doubt home run to left center in that first inning. Zimmerman is 12 for 29 in his past seven games with two doubles, a triple, three homers, seven RBI – and a new daughter, too. Wilson Ramos, who moved ahead of Zimmerman in the order this week, walked and singled and is hitting .345.

Drew hit the Nationals’ second home run of the game as he led off the second inning. The veteran left-handed hitter started because Baker chose Murphy to get a half day off as the designated hitter, a rare luxury of interleague play. Drew finished with two hits and now has 12 hits this season, five for extra bases. His double-play partner Espinosa homered right after him, the seventh time the Nationals have hit back-to-back homers this season. Espinosa has six homers in his past 12 games.

By the end of all the fun, Nationals play-by-play announcer Bob Carpenter had freestyle rapped on the air, the White Sox had a position player, outfielder J.B. Shuck, on the mound, and the Nationals had secured their 11th series win in 19 tries. It all started with a bunt.

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