Two runs in the ninth inning proved to be the difference as the Washington Nationals defeated the Houston Astros for their fifth consecutive win
The Washington Nationals picked up their fifth consecutive win on Thursday night after downing the Houston Astros, 3-2, thanks to a pair of runs in the ninth inning.
With the win, the Nationals move to 11-4-3 overall and remain in a four-way tie atop the Grapefruit League standings alongside the Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates.
Thursday night also marked the third win in six meetings against the Astros in spring training, in addition to two ties to conclude the spring training series.
Jake Irvin drew his third start in spring training where he gave up five hits, two earned runs and one home run while tossing four strikeouts across 3.1 innings. Ken Waldichuk was also the star out of the bullpen after tossing six strikeouts and giving up just two hits in 2.2 innings
The Astros would open the scoring in the bottom of the first inning after Irvin gave up consecutive doubles with two outs to send one run in before a grounder ended the inning. They would strike back in the third inning after giving up a solo home run to center field with two outs. Irvin would come back out in the fourth inning before giving up his third double of the night, leading pitching coach Simon Matthews to turn to Clayton Beeter to end the inning.
The Nationals would then get on the board with a 388 foot home run to left center courtesy of Andres Chaparro to open the fifth inning, making it a 2-1 deficit.
Waldichuk would take the mound in the bottom of the frame to strike out the side in order. He then posted two consecutive strikeouts in the bottom of the sixth inning with two runners on before a fly out ended the inning.
Then came the ninth inning when Riley Adams opened the frame with a double to center field, then a double from Brady House had a pair of runners in scoring positions with no outs. Trey Lipscomb would prove to be the hero with a hit into right field that was enough to send Adams home, but a throwing error was the difference that sent in House for the game-winning run and getting Lipscomb to third.
Houston opened the bottom of the ninth with a walk, but never got closer as the Nationals stayed in the win column as they look to carry over the momentum into the regular season.
The Nationals will return to action on Friday night against the New York Mets for a 6:05 PM opening pitch. This marks the second meeting against the Mets after coming away with a 3-2 win two weeks ago.