The Washington Nationals sat on the cusp of a franchise record, yet watched it slip away after dropping the rubber match against Tampa Bay
The Washington Nationals had a chance to tie a franchise record, but watched that feat slip away later after dropping the rubber match against the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-3, on Sunday afternoon.
Despite the loss, CJ Abrams capped off his strong series with his third home run of the series, one in each game, though it marked just one of six hits by the team in the loss. James Wood, Luis Garcia Jr. and Curtis Mead combined to go 0-for-10 with three strikeouts at the top of the order, while both Dylan Crews and Drew Millas joined Garcia with two strikeouts each in the loss. Nasim Nunez joined CJ Abrams with two hits as the lone Nationals with multi-hit games.
The scoring started in the third inning when James Wood blasted a 90 mph cutter deep into center field, a hit that would've been a home run in the bulk of ballparks, but materialized into a sac fly to give the Nationals an early 1-0 lead.
Tampa Bay would answer back in the bottom of the inning after Andrew Alvarez gave up consecutive two out doubles, but Washington would get the lead back in the fourth inning on two doubles of their own after Dylan Crews followed up CJ Abrams two at bats later to move ahead, 2-1.
Abrams' 368 foot home run in the top of the sixth inning pushed the Nationals ahead, 3-1, before the Rays answered back with their own solo shot on Gus Varland to keep it a one-score game once again.
Yet similar to the rest of the regular season, the concerns out of the bullpen would come to life once again with Orlando Ribalta taking the mound in the seventh inning. After opening the inning with a strikeout, Ribalta gave up a single to right before an 86 mph slider wasn't enough to evade clearing the bases on a two run home run, a shot that gave Tampa Bay its first lead of the day.
Daylen Lile opened the ninth inning with a leadoff single, but that materialized into nothing after being caught stealing second base. It marked the lone base runner the Nationals got on over the final two innings to cement the Nationals' first road series loss since May 8-10 against the Miami Marlins.
Washington, now standing 40-38 overall, will now return home to Nationals Park to host the Philadelphia Phillies for a four game series set to begin on Monday evening.
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