MILWAUKEE -- Chris Carter may not be the Milwaukee Brewers' long-term solution at first base, but he's certainly providing exactly what the team hoped for when they signed him as an unheralded free agent last fall.

Carter proved his worth again Saturday, belting a three-run home run in the first inning off Gio Gonzalez that set Milwaukee on course for a 6-5 victory over the Washington Nationals.

"That's why he's hitting in the middle of the order, to provide that instant offense," said Brewers manager Craig Counsell, whose team has won three in a row.

Gonzalez opened the game by allowing back-to-back singles Jonathan Villar and Aaron Hill. He got the first out of the inning by getting Ryan Braun to bounce back to the mound then struck out Jonathan Lucroy which brought up Carter, who worked the count to 3-1.

Gonzalez left a change-up up in the zone and Carter got all of it for his 19th of the season.

"It's always nice to pick up a guy when he strikes out in front of you with runners in scoring position and get the runners in behind him," Carter said.

His blast gave starter Matt Garza a little bit of a cushion. Making just his third start of the season -- and first at home -- Garza allowed four runs on seven hits and three walks with a strikeout over seven innings of work.

"He scuffled with his off-speed stuff a little more today than he had in his first two starts," Counsell said. "But he competed really well."

Despite all the traffic on the bases, Garza was able to limit the damage and made it through six innings for the second consecutive outing.

"My breaking stuff wasn't very consistent today but I was able to grind through some innings," Garza said. "I pitched through a lot of traffic. They had a lot of ground balls finding holes."

Daniel Murphy led off the second with a triple and scored on Wilson Ramos' base hit, but Washington's next four runs all came by way of a sacrifice; three fly balls and one bunt.

"Some good things happened today," Nationals manager Dusty Baker said. "We battled, but it's time for us to win some wars now. We had action, we flirted with the fence all day, but came up short."

Gonzalez (3-7) lasted only three innings and was charged with all six of Milwaukee's runs while allowing six hits and a walk with five strikeouts.

He's lost his last six decisions and has an 8.43 ERA in his last seven starts.

"You worry about his confidence," Baker said. "And he's got to get that third out. I've never seen more two-out hits. They're not that easy to get."

The loss extended Washington's losing streak to a season-high seven games and the Nationals' lead in the NL East to just 2 1/2 games over the second-place Mets, who faced Atlanta on Saturday night.

"It's not like we're playing that bad of baseball," left fielder Jayson Werth said. "We're playing good enough to win games, we're just not winning them. You go through these stretches from time to time and you try to minimize the damage. It's tough right now for us. We've got to find a way to win tomorrow and head home and get hot. It's too early in the season to really get hung up on this too much, but obviously we need to turn it around."

NOTES: Following the game, Nationals manager Dusty Baker announced that RHP Stephen Strasburg would not start Sunday as previously scheduled. Strasburg reported feeling pain in his ribcage and back during warm-ups Saturday and is considered day-to-day. RHP Tanner Roark will make the start in Strasburg's place. ... LF Ryan Braun returned to Milwaukee's lineup Saturday. He was held out the night before as manager Craig Counsell tried to take advantage of three off-days in an eight-day span to rest some of his regulars. ... LF Jayson Werth was back in Washington's starting lineup Saturday. He, too, got the night off Friday. Werth is batting .389 (21-for-54) with four doubles, a home run and 10 RBI since June 7. ... The Nationals' six-game losing streak coming into the game was a season high. Despite the streak, Washington still began the day with a three-game lead over the New York Mets atop the National League East. ... OF Corey Ray, Milwaukee's first-round draft choice earlier this month (No. 5 overall) signed his contract and took part in batting practice Saturday at Miller Park. Scouting director Ray Montgomery said Ray would be assigned to Class A Brevard County early next month.