CINCINNATI -- Adam Duvall had more than an hour to consider the situation -- eighth inning, tie score, two on, two out. Duvall took some swings, but not too many.

"I didn't want to try to overthink the at-bat," Duvall said. "I wanted to go up there and react."

Duvall's three-run homer off Shawn Kelley lifted the Cincinnati Reds to a 6-3 victory over the Washington Nationals on a stormy Saturday afternoon.

The game was delayed 20 minutes by rain in the fifth inning and again for 1:04 in the eighth.

Moments after the clouds broke and a rainbow towered over Great American Ball Park, Duvall crushed a 1-1 pitch from Kelley into the left field bleachers to snap a 3-3 tie. It was Duvall's 16th home run this season and third in as many games.

"I think the biggest thing for me is when I get a pitch to hit I'm not missing it," Duvall said. "I've looked to be a little bit more aggressive and drive the ball. Not just settle for the base hit."

Joey Votto and Jay Bruce also homered for Cincinnati (21-35), which has won six of eight since ending an 11-game losing streak.

"It's fun when you get good pitching and good hitting," manager Bryan Price said.

It was a historic day but painful afternoon for Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg, who reached 1,000 strikeouts for his career but later left with a lower leg injury.

"You could see him grabbing it, rubbing it," manager Dusty Baker said. "I'm just glad it's not a calf strain or a pull."

In the sixth inning, he appeared to tweak something in his lower right leg. He was visited once by the trainer and appeared to be favoring his leg following several pitches before being removed from the game after allowing three runs and striking out 10.

"I just got real dehydrated out there," Strasburg said. "It just kind of grabbed me a little bit on a pitch to (Brandon) Phillips. I got some treatment on it and it feels fine."

Felipe Rivero (0-2) took the loss for Washington.

Reds starter Dan Straily held the Nationals hitless for 5 2/3 innings following Anthony Rendon's two-run homer in the second, which accounted for the only two runs Straily allowed.

It was quite an afternoon for the Reds outfield trio of Duvall and Bruce, who each homered, and center fielder Billy Hamilton, who robbed leadoff batter Ben Revere of an extra-base hit in the first with a leaping grab up against the wall.

"Everything's going our way right now, we just have to keep playing," Bruce said.

Danny Espinosa's solo home run in the eighth off Ross Ohlendorf tied the score 3-3 before Duvall's homer earned Ohlendorf (4-4) the victory.

Tony Cingrani earned his fifth save for Cincinnati.

Rendon put the Nationals (33-23) ahead 2-0 with a two-run blast on a 1-2 pitch in the second.

Bruce answered with a solo shot to the opposite field. It was his 12th homer of the season and fourth in his past seven appearances.

Strasburg struck out five straight batters following Bruce's homer.

"I've been kind of going through a stretch where I've been throwing a lot of pitches each inning," said Strasburg, who threw 97 pitches on Saturday.

In the fifth, Strasburg fanned Straily for his 1,000th career strikeout, becoming the first pitcher in Nationals history to reach that mark.

Straily met with trainers on the mound just as the skies opened up, but returned following a 21-minute rain delay.

Another long ball -- this time a two-run shot to right field by Votto -- put the Reds ahead 3-2 in the sixth.

When the Nationals tied the score on Espinosa's homer in the eighth, it looked like the game would extend well into Saturday evening. Duvall took care of that, though.

"No alibis, no excuses," Baker said. "He just hung a slider, and that's what hot hitters do."

NOTES: Cincinnati recalled OF Kyle Waldrop from Triple-A Louisville on Saturday and optioned RHP Dayan Diaz to Louisville. ... Reds RHP Homer Bailey's bullpen session Saturday went well. Bailey has not pitched since undergoing right elbow surgery last season. ... Nationals RHP Matt Belisle, on the disabled list with right calf strain, has thrown back-to-back days for Double-A Harrisburg but there is no timetable for his return. ... There was a moment of silence prior to Saturday's game honoring boxing great and humanitarian Muhammad Ali who passed away Friday. Ali participated in festivities at the Major League Baseball Civil Rights Game in 2009 at Great American Ball Park.