WASHINGTON -- If Joe Ross is pitching at home on a weekend afternoon, there is a good chance his teammates are going to bash the baseball around Nationals Park.

The Washington Nationals scored at least four runs in an inning on three occasions and lashed out 19 hits to crush the Cincinnati Reds 18-3 on Saturday. The Nationals were 12-for-18 with runners in scoring position, had five doubles and two homers and forced the Reds to throw 206 pitches in eight innings.

Washington began the day leading the league with a team batting average of .276 and league-best 114 homers. The Nationals scored 23 runs on April 30 against the New York Mets in a game that Ross started at home on a Sunday afternoon.

"I haven't noticed that," Washington center fielder Michael A. Taylor said of the run support for Ross.

But the Reds certainly noticed Taylor, who had four hits, including two homers.

"He is hitting eighth," noted an incredulous Reds manager Bryan Price. "There are not a lot of soft places to fall (in that lineup)."

Washington scored a record 62 runs in the first four starts of the year for Ross (4-3), who gave up just one run on six hits in seven innings Saturday. The first-place Nationals (45-29) are 20-14 at home while the last-place Reds (30-43) lost for the 13th time in 14 games.

The only other time Taylor hit two homers in a game was last year at San Diego.

"That is a good feeling. It was a great team win right there," Taylor said. "Joe came out and pitched a great game."

Taylor did not start the previous two games.

"I was a little banged up. I am getting better. I am headed in the right direction," said Taylor, who did not disclose his injury.

Trea Turner, who had been in a slump, went a career-best 5-for-5 with a walk to raise his average to .275 and Daniel Murphy drove in four runs for the Nationals.

"I feel better. I feel like it is starting to come around," Turner said. "I am hitting the ball pretty good."

Reds starter Homer Bailey (0-1), in his first start this season, gave up eight runs and six hits in 1 2/3 innings and lasted just 61 pitches after three minor league rehab starts.

"In this game, at this level, you never really know. With a lineup like that and you're not sharp they're going to make you have a long day regardless of who you are or what kind of stuff you're featuring," Bailey said. "I had no excuses. I just didn't pitch well today. That's all I can say."

Ryan Zimmerman began the festivities with a two-run double in the first to give the Nationals a 2-0 lead.

Washington then scored six in the second to grab an 8-0 advantage and send Bailey to the showers.

Turner had an RBI single, Murphy had a three-run double and Anthony Rendon and Matt Wieters had RBI singles in the inning.

Wieters had an RBI single in the fourth and later scored on an error to make it 10-0. Taylor added a two-run homer later in the fourth to make it 12-0.

Murphy had a sacrifice fly in the fifth for a 13-0 lead.

The Reds broke the shutout with a solo homer in the sixth by Patrick Kivlehan against Ross.

Taylor hit his second homer to lead off the bottom of the sixth, making it 14-1. He ended the day going 4-for-5 with three runs and three RBIs.

Kivlehan had an RBI single off reliever Joe Blanton in the eighth and Eugenio Suarez added a sacrifice fly to make it 14-3.

But Turner had an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth against Blake Wood, Brian Goodwin had an RBI double, and Adam Lind and Jose Lobaton had sacrifice flies to make it 18-3.

Bailey was replaced in the second inning by Lisalverto Bonilla, who yielded five runs in 3 1/3 innings.

Tucker Barnhart, Kivlehan, Scooter Gennett and Billy Hamilton had two hits for the Reds. Zimmerman, Rendon and Wieters did likewise for the Nationals.

"They were not missing," Price said of the Washington bats. "You have guys that hurt you in the bottom of the order. It is not like we were on top of our game. When you make a mistake they don't foul it back."

NOTES: Reds CF Billy Hamilton broke an 0-for-20 skid with a line single in the fifth inning. ... The Reds brought RHP Homer Bailey (bone spurs, right elbow) off the 60-day disabled list to start. To make room on the roster, OF Jesse Winker, who hit .273 in 14 at-bats, was sent to Triple-A Louisville. ... Washington manager Dusty Baker had the same job with the Reds from 2008 to 2013. ... Reds RHP Drew Storen had 95 saves with the Nationals from 2010 to 2015. He was a first-round draft pick by Washington out of Stanford.