Scott Olsen returned from the disabled list to win his first appearance in more than two months, Adam Dunn and Ian Desmond each homered and doubled, and the last-place Nationals beat the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves, 5-3, yesterday in a game interrupted 1 1/2 hours by rain in Washington.
Olsen (3-2) gave up three runs - two earned - and five hits in six innings before a thunderstorm caused the delay. The Nationals made room on the roster for the lefthander by putting rookie sensation Stephen Strasburg on the DL for the first time.
"They're taking every precaution with me, obviously," Strasburg said.
It's the first trip to the DL for Strasburg, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 amateur draft and signed a record $15.1 million contract.
Backup catcher Wil Nieves bounced a single up the middle off Derek Lowe (10-9) in the fourth inning, breaking a 2-all tie. Lowe went five innings, giving up four runs and five hits, including Desmond's solo homer in the second.
Dunn hit his 24th homer in the eighth off Takashi Saito.
The Braves lost two of three games in the series, dropping to 19-19 against NL East opponents, their worst mark against any division this season.
The Nats made news after the game when they traded All-Star closer Matt Capps, who got his 26th save in 30 opportunites in the win over the Braves, to the Minnesota Twins for minor leaguers Wilson Ramos and Joe Testa.
The Twins say they will also receive cash from the Nationals.
In other games:
* At New York, R.A. Dickey took a three-hitter into the ninth inning and Ike Davis hit a three-run homer, leading the Mets to a 4-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals that gave them their first series victory in more than a month.
* At San Francisco, Anibal Sanchez (8-6) pitched a one-hitter for his first shutout since a no-hitter in September 2006, and Jorge Cantu played his final game for Florida in the Marlins' 5-0 victory over the Giants.
The Marlins sent Cantu to AL West-leading Texas, giving the Rangers another bat for the stretch, for Double A righthanders Evan Reed and Omar Poveda.
Cantu got two hits, scored twice and made an error before being swapped. The trade was completed right after the game ended.
* At Denver, Ubaldo Jimenez (16-2) rebounded from two rough starts to pitch seven effective innings and the Colorado Rockies snapped an eight-game skid with a 9-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
In Pirates news, pitcher Ross Ohlendorf said he felt fine a day after being hit in the head by a line drive Wednesday and expected to make his next start.
_ At San Diego, Oscar Salazar's pinch-hit single with one out in the ninth inning gave the NL West-leading Padres a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers to take two of three games in the series.
Noteworthy
* Investigators have determined that Colorado Rockies president Keli McGregor's death in April was from natural causes, police said.
In other Rockies news, closer Huston Street is ready to pitch after recovering from an abdominal injury earlier this week.
Street was hurt Tuesday when he was hit by a ball off the bat of teammate Ian Stewart during batting practice.
Gallery: Phils 3, D'Backs 2
Video: Dave Murphy talks Oswalt and streaking Phils
