The seventh inning belonged to Washington. After Minnesota tied the game at 5-5, Keibert Ruiz answered with a go-ahead homer and Curtis Mead added an insurance run as the Nationals defeated the Twins 7-5 at Nationals Park.
Ruiz carried the offense with a 3-for-4 performance, driving in four runs with two doubles and a home run. The catcher scored three times and delivered the decisive blow in the seventh, a 353-foot homer to right field that broke a 5-5 tie. His four RBI matched his season high as he raised his average to .214.
The game swung back and forth through seven innings. Minnesota struck first when Brooks Lee singled home two runs in the second. Washington answered in the third as Ruiz doubled home Jacob Young, then scored on Nasim Nuñez's sacrifice fly to tie it 2-2. The Nationals seized control in the fifth when Ruiz doubled home two more runs and Mead drove in another with a fielder's choice for a 5-3 lead. But Ryan Jeffers homered in the sixth and Josh Bell doubled home the tying run in the seventh before Ruiz's homer settled the game.
Jake Irvin lasted five innings for Washington, allowing 4 runs on 8 hits. John Klein took the loss for Minnesota, surrendering 2 runs in 1.1 innings of relief. PJ Poulin earned the win with a scoreless seventh inning.
Washington snapped a losing streak to improve to 17-20. Minnesota fell to 16-21 with the loss.