WASHINGTON -- Not even knowing that the type of restless night he was about to face, John Smoltz approached Jeff Francoeur on Friday and playfully asked his good friend to provide him some offensive assistance the following afternoon.

Having battled heavy congestion in his chest most of this week, a fatigued Smoltz didn't know if he'd have the mental resolve to endure any type of pitchers' duel at Nationals Park on Saturday afternoon.

Thanks to Francouer's career-best seven-RBI, two-homer performance in a comfortable 10-2 win over the Nationals, the Braves' veteran hurler was given the opportunity to cruise toward his second win of the season.

"I needed a favor," said Smoltz, who allowed just one earned run in six innings. "I think I told him to put it out of reach. I said something to that effect, and he came through."

Francoeur, who shares a brotherly relationship with Smoltz, gladly accepted the challenge with the knowledge that he didn't give the veteran hurler much help last year. But with the three-run homer that sparked a four-run first inning against Nationals starter John Lannan, the Braves right fielder immediately showed he was willing to satisfy Smotlz's request.

"He rode me hard last year about the fact that I never gave him any run support when he was pitching," Francoeur said. "I think I was 0-for-4 every game. So I told him I'd come out and help him a little bit this year."

This was Francoeur's sixth career multi-homer game and first since Aug. 17. He became the first Braves hitter since West Helms in 2001 to record as many as seven RBIs in a game. Tony Cloninger set the franchise record with his nine-RBI performance against the Giants on July 3, 1966.

"It was nice," Francoeur said. "It was one of those games you don't have too often, so I definitely am going to enjoy it a little."

By helping Smoltz, Francoeur helped further raise the spirits of the Braves, who have won the first two games of this series and will go for their first sweep of the season on Sunday. At the same time, Francoeur also provided himself a much-needed confidence boost.

Entering Saturday, Francoeur had just three hits in his previous 15 at-bats and hadn't homered since the March 31 home opener. His previous RBI had come exactly a week earlier and combined through the first 10 games of the season, he had been given just eight at-bats with runners in scoring position.

While it's never time to panic this early in the season, it's safe to say patience was becoming an issue for Francoeur, who tallied 100 RBIs both of the past two seasons.

"I wanted to make sure I took care of business today, and I got some good opportunities and I took care of them," Francoeur said. "It's nice to have a day like that."

As he strode toward the plate in the first inning, Francoeur was still miffed about striking out with the bases loaded in the ninth inning of Friday night's win. That, combined with Smoltz's request, gave him the motivation to send Lannan's 1-1 changeup down the left-field line for a three-run homer.

"That was really a big boost coming out when really it was a rough night for me, physically," Smoltz said. "I couldn't sleep."

Some cold medicine he took after returning to the hotel early on Friday night fueled Smoltz's adrenaline and led to him getting just four hours of sleep. But with a four-run lead, he had a nice cushion and when Francoeur delivered a two-out, two-run single in the fourth inning, the veteran hurler was given an opportunity to record his final nine outs of the day in a relatively stress-free environment.

"It's fun when you have days like this and you can win like this and give Smoltzie a lead," Francoeur said. "When you can give Smoltzie a lead like that, you feel like it's pretty much over."

If it wasn't over when the Braves notched a 6-1 lead in the fourth, then it definitely seemed to reach that point during the three-run sixth inning, when Francoeur finally solved Jason Bergmann with a two-run homer.

Further proving this was Francoeur's day, he had just one hit in his previous 22 career at-bats against Bergmann. But this time, he was looking slider and was able to deposit it into the left-field seats to cap his eventful day.

"Jeff had a great day with seven RBIs, and the home runs weren't cheapies," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "He hit them. We've been waiting for a breakout day from one of our guys with the long ball to get some runs on the board and cruise through a game occasionally. We've had so many tight [games]."

With the early lead, Cox was able to lift Chipper Jones in the fourth inning to give him a chance to rest the sore quadriceps muscles that he has in both legs. After scoring from second on Francoeur's fourth-inning single, Jones went to the clubhouse to get treatment and then announced after the game that he'd likely play in Sunday's series finale.

With Jones and Mark Teixeira, whose .186 batting average suggests that he's still waiting to heat up, hitting in front of him, Francoeur might be able to enjoy another similar day at some point this season.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he has another one like that at some point," Jones said. "The opportunity has to present itself and you have to get your pitch and do damage. He was right on everything today."