Keibert Ruiz led off the bottom of the ninth with a game-winning home run as the Washington Nationals beat the visiting Oakland Athletics 3-2 on Saturday night.
Ruiz’s 14th homer of the season came off Lucas Erceg (2-3).
Lane Thomas tied the game with a pinch-hit, bases-loaded single before the Athletics recorded an out in the eighth inning. Yet the Nationals didn’t score again in the inning.
Kyle Finnegan (6-3) was the winning pitcher. He worked a 1-2-3 top of the ninth, with two strikeouts.
Brent Rooker and JJ Bleday homered for the Athletics, who lost for the eighth time in their last 11 games.
Rooker’s 19th homer of the season came off Nationals starter Jake Irvin and put the Athletics ahead 2-1 in the sixth inning.
Oakland starter Luis Medina made it through four innings. He allowed one run on four hits and two walks. He struck out four and had better control than his most recent start, but left without picking up a pitching victory for his fourth straight game.
Outfielder Lawrence Butler, rated as the fifth-best Athletics prospect, by mlb,com, played in his second major league game. His first career hit was a double in the seventh inning. It followed a single by Tyler Soderstrom and left runners at second and third with no outs, but Irvin got the next two batters, and Jose Ferrer entered to strike out Ruiz and end the threat.
In 6 2/3 innings, Irvin surrendered two runs on seven hits without a walk. He struck out six.
The Nationals scored first on Alex Call’s fielder’s choice grounder in the second inning. Contributing to the run was a single from Blake Rutherford, who also recorded his first major league hit after going 0-for-16 following his promotion from Triple-A.
Rutherford ended up 2-for-3.
Bleday homered in the third inning to knot the score at 1-1. It was his 10th home run of the season and his second in four games.
The Nationals loaded the bases with one out in the fourth but didn’t score.
–Field Level Media
