Keibert Ruiz delivered a go-ahead, pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth inning and Joey Meneses was 4-for-4 with two RBIs as the Washington Nationals topped the host Chicago White Sox 6-3 on Tuesday in Game 1 of a doubleheader.
Washington snapped a two-game losing streak by out-hitting Chicago 10-8 and overcoming three errors.
The Nationals broke the game open with a three-run eighth behind three hits, one walk, a sacrifice fly and a stolen base.
Four Nationals relievers combined on four scoreless innings. Kyle Finnegan sidestepped two singles in the ninth for his major league-leading 13th save.
Both starting pitchers took no-decisions.
Washington’s Trevor Williams allowed three runs (one earned) in five innings while walking one and striking out two. Chicago counterpart Chris Flexen gave up three runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings with one walk and five strikeouts.
Derek Law (3-1) pitched a scoreless seventh for the win. John Brebbia (0-2) took the loss, allowing three runs in 1 1/3 innings.
The White Sox scored first, as Eloy Jimenez connected for a solo home run against Williams to lead off the second inning. It was his fifth homer of the season and first since May 5.
Washington grabbed the advantage with a three-run fifth, capitalizing on a series of hits, alert baserunning and a White Sox defensive miscue.
With two outs, Eddie Rosario hit an RBI single to right field to score Trey Lipscomb, who singled to start the inning and was sacrificed to second base. Chicago’s Gavin Sheets missed the cutoff man on Rosario’s, allowing Rosario to advance to second base and send CJ Abrams to third.
Meneses followed with a two-run single to left.
Chicago responded in the bottom half, benefiting from three errors to score twice — on Braden Shewmake’s sacrifice fly and Tommy Pham’s run-scoring single. The Nationals have committed 13 errors in the past seven games.
Lipscomb went 3-for-3 and Rosario extended his hitting streak to eight games for Washington. Pham had two hits for Chicago.
White Sox third baseman Bryan Ramos left the game in the seventh inning with tightness in his left quadriceps. Zach Remillard entered as a defensive replacement.
–Field Level Media
