ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- In a game that got stranger as the night went on, the Washington Nationals set season highs with 23 hits and 16 runs, ending the Tampa Bay Rays' four-game winning streak with a 16-4 victory Tuesday at Tropicana Field.

"All in all, a good win for us," said Nationals manager Matt Williams, who got seven innings of one-run pitching from starter Tanner Roark (3-2).

The Nationals (34-31) chased Rays starter Alex Colome after two innings and six runs, depleting the bullpen so much that Tampa Bay used infielders Jake Elmore and Nick Franklin for the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.

According to the Rays, it's the first time since 1990 two position players have pitched for a team in a nine-inning game.

"I've never seen that," said Williams. "It's difficult. We've experienced that unfortunately where the starter gets out early and you have to do that sometimes."

When Rays manager Kevin Cash was asked which infielder had better stuff on the mound, he said he didn't know.

"You'll have to ask Wilson Ramos," he said, referencing the Nationals catcher, who hit home runs off each infielder in the eighth and ninth innings.

Washington (34-31) plays host to Tampa Bay (36-30) for the next two games, having set the season high for runs and hits for a Rays opponent. Tampa Bay hadn't given up more than eight runs in a game since May 11, in an 11-5 loss to the Yankees.

"You put it behind you as soon as the last out's made," Cash said. "Just one of those nights. Alex didn't have his best stuff. He'll bounce back and be ready to go in five days."

For many Nationals, it was a career night at the plate. Second baseman Danny Espinosa had a career-high five hits, scoring three times, and first baseman Clint Robinson (who started the scoring with a 449-foot home run in the second) set his career high with four hits.

Three of the Nationals' four home runs were measured at longer than 440 feet, with right fielder Bryce Harper crushing one 443 feet. Like Robinson, he finished a triple short of hitting for the cycle.

Elmore came in to pitch in the eighth, and his second pitch resulted in a solo home run by Ramos for a 14-1 Nationals lead. It was Elmore's second career pitching appearance, as he threw one inning in a 2013 game.

The outings by Elmore and Franklin marked the fourth and fifth times a Rays position player has pitched, the most recent being outfielder Sam Fuld in 2013.

Not to be outdone, the Nationals used pitcher Joe Ross as a pinch hitter for the designated hitter in the ninth inning. He popped out, appropriately, to the pitcher. Ramos then hit a two-run home run to make it a 16-1 game.

Tampa Bay catcher Rene Rivera hit a three-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth off Nationals closer Drew Storen.

The Nationals jumped out to a 10-1 lead after five innings, tagging Rays pitchers for 12 hits, with all the scoring coming in the second and fifth innings.

Washington matched its highest-scoring inning of the season with a six-run second, a 43-pitch nightmare that sent Colome to an early exit. Colome gave up five hits and three walks -- one with the bases loaded -- in the inning.

Robinson led off the second with a huge home run to right field -- his second of the season -- and two bunt singles and two walks ensued. Designated hitter Yunel Escobar had a two-run single with the bases loaded, Ramos had a sacrifice fly and Robinson added an RBI double in his second at-bat of the inning. The inning finally ended with an out at the plate on a relay throw from Rays shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera.

Colome (3-3) yielded six runs on seven hits and lasted only two innings, putting a burden on a Rays bullpen that has been overworked of late. Lefty C.J. Riefenhauser pitched a scoreless third and fourth, using a combined 14 pitches, only to gi