WASHINGTON -- About 13 months ago, Joe Ross, 22, was pitching in the minor leagues with the San Diego Padres while Michael A. Taylor, 24, was at Double-A Harrisburg in the Washington system.

Now the two youngsters are in the midst of a pennant race with a Nationals team that also has its share of veterans, some of whom have struggled at the plate.

Ross won the battle of rookie right-handed starters, Anthony Rendon had a double and homer and Taylor hit a two-run shot as the Nationals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 6-1 on Saturday.

"He has been great for us in RBI situations," manager Matt Williams said of Taylor.

Said Taylor: "Mentally I am try to tone things down at the plate. I am trying to be more consistent trying to make contact and not rush things."

The Nationals (61-61), who began the day five games behind the first-place New York Mets, won for just the third time in 11 games. The Brewers (53-71) fell to 25-33 on the road and 16-13 against the National League East.

Ross (4-5), in his 10th career start, allowed one run in seven innings to get the win while Brewers starter Taylor Jungmann (7-5) gave up a season-high five runs.

"I think they really made him work for everything," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said of his rookie starter. "His command with his fastball, I don't think, was too sharp. He couldn't get easy outs. There were a lot of long at-bats. We made a great play in the first inning to prevent a big inning from happening. He was in trouble most of the evening."

Ross, who was called up from Double-A in June, yielded just six hits and no walks, with four strikeouts, while throwing just 82 pitches. He has walked more than one batter in just one start.

"I thought he pitched pretty well," Washington manager Matt Williams said. "He threw some good changeups. (Throwing inside) is one of his weapons."

Blake Treinen pitched a scoreless eighth for the Nationals and Matt Thornton got the last three outs in the ninth as Rendon caught a liner for the third out at third with a runner on base.

Rendon, who also drew two walks, hit a solo homer in the seventh to give the Nationals a 6-1 lead. It was the second homer of the year for the injury-plagued Rendon, who hit 21 homers last season. "His timing is right," Williams said.

Catcher Wilson Ramos added two hits, including an RBI double, and scored twice after he entered the game with an average of .136 in his last seven contests and a mark of .160 in his last 30 games.

Brewers left fielder Khris Davis broke up the shutout by Ross with a solo homer in the top of the seventh, cutting the deficit to 5-1.

"Other than that, he made no mistakes," Williams said of Ross. "Make the other team earn their runs."

Taylor said of Ross: "He has been great out there. He gives us a chance to win ballgames."

Washington left fielder Jayson Werth, not in the original lineup, had two hits in the leadoff spot. Brewers shortstop Jean Segura also had two hits.

Taylor hit a two-run homer with two outs in the second to give the Nationals a 2-0 lead. His 13th homer of the year also scored Ramos, who had singled.

Jungmann had not allowed a homer in his previous eight starts. The last long ball he gave up was June 30 against the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Nationals scored three runs in the fourth to take a 5-0 lead. Ramos had an RBI double down the left-field line, Werth drove in a run with a bloop single to center and Rendon had an RBI double to left.

Jungmann gave up seven hits and five runs in four innings before he was lifted for a pinch hitter in the top of the fifth. The rookie entered the game with a 2.23 ERA in 13 starts, and the most earned runs he had given up before Saturday had been four (June 19 at Colorado).

"I felt a little out of sorts from the first inning," Jungmann said. "It was one of those games where I felt like I was going to have to battle a little bit. Hopefully, you feel you can figure it out in the next couple of innings. I just really never got into a rhythm."

NOTES: Nationals RHP Jordan Zimmermann (9-8, 3.44) will pitch against his home-state Brewers on Sunday in the series finale. He will face veteran RHP Matt Garza (6-13, 4.98 ERA). ... Brewers hitting coach Darnell Coles is a former instructor in the minor league system of the Nationals (2006-09). ... Milwaukee RHP reliever Jeremy Jeffress is a native of South Boston, Va., and was drafted in the first round by the Brewers in 2006. He entered Saturday with a 3-0 record and 3.00 ERA in 54 games out of the bullpen. ... Washington RF Bryce Harper entered Saturday with a league-high 31 home runs and had reached base in 104 of 114 games this season. Since early May, he had been held hitless in back-to-back games only twice.