The game was tied three times before Washington finally pulled away. Dylan Crews' blast to center in the ninth — 442 feet — gave the Nationals a two-run cushion that proved just enough, as Tampa Bay scored once in the bottom half before Beeter closed it out for a 4-3 Washington victory on Saturday night at Tropicana Field.
Crews finished 2-for-4 with 2 runs scored, 1 home run, and 1 RBI. C. J. Abrams, hitting .280 on the season with 16 home runs, went 1-for-4 with a home run and 1 RBI. The Washington bullpen carried the pitching story: Brad Lord worked 3.0 scoreless innings, allowing 2 hits while striking out 5 on just 36 pitches. Mitchell Parker followed with 2.1 innings of one-hit, scoreless work, picking up the win to improve to 3-3. Beeter closed out the ninth, allowing 1 run on 1 hit and 2 walks while striking out 2, earning his fifth save of the season.
Tampa Bay scored first when Díaz crossed the plate on Junior Caminero's sacrifice fly to right in the first inning. Washington answered in the second: Abrams homered to right center to tie it, then Crews scored on Nuñez's double to left to give Washington a 2-1 lead. The Rays tied it again in the third when Caminero scored on Chandler Simpson's single to center. From a 2-2 tie in the fifth, Ruiz scored on Andres Chaparro's groundout to give Washington the go-ahead run at 3-2 — a lead the Nationals would not relinquish. Crews' ninth-inning homer extended it to 4-2, and though Walls scored on Díaz's infield single to make it 4-3, Beeter retired the side to end it.
Ian Seymour absorbed the loss, his first of the season, falling to 3-1. He allowed 3 runs on 7 hits over 5.0 innings, striking out 4 without issuing a walk on 81 pitches. With a 4.98 ERA, Seymour had been one of Tampa Bay's steadier starters, but Washington's offense found enough against him to take the lead for good.
Washington dropped to 39-37 with the win, snapping a two-game losing streak. Tampa Bay, which had won its previous game, fell to 42-30 and remains second in its division.