Washington answered a two-run deficit with a swing of the bat, only to watch Arizona take it right back. In a game defined by short bursts rather than sustained rallies, the Diamondbacks' seventh-inning sacrifice fly proved to be the difference in a 3-2 win over the Nationals at Nationals Park.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARI | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| WSH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
Dylan Crews supplied Washington's only offensive highlight of note, going 2-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBI. His fourth-inning blast, a 405-foot shot to left center that also brought home C. J. Abrams, erased Arizona's early lead and tied the game at 2-2. Abrams finished 2-for-4 as well, though the Nationals could not build on the momentum from Crews' swing.
Arizona's runs came in bursts of their own. In the second inning, Tim Tawa's bunt single to first brought home Kepler to open the scoring, and Marte followed by grounding into a fielder's choice that scored Locklear, a call the Diamondbacks challenged and saw upheld. That put Arizona up 2-0 before Crews' homer tied things in the fourth. The decisive blow came in the seventh, when Moreno's sacrifice fly to left brought Marte home, putting Arizona back in front 3-2 for good.
Nationals starter Carson Palmquist did not survive the second inning, exiting after 1.1 innings having allowed 2 runs on 2 hits with 3 walks. Zack Littell steadied things in relief, working 5.0 innings and allowing just 1 run on 4 hits with 5 strikeouts, but he was tagged with the loss, falling to 7-8 with a 5.17 ERA. Washington's bullpen overall covered 7.2 innings and allowed only 1 run, but the offense could not deliver another rally after Crews' homer.
Eduardo Rodriguez worked 6.0 innings for Arizona, allowing 2 runs on 7 hits with 4 strikeouts to improve to 9-3 with a 2.64 ERA. Paul Sewald closed it out with a perfect ninth for his 24th save of the season. The win extended Arizona's winning streak to four games, improving the Diamondbacks to 55-49, while Washington fell to 52-52. Nationals outfielder Max Kepler went 1-for-4 with a double and sits at 996 career hits, 4 shy of the 1,000-hit milestone.