Eugenio Suarez hit a long, two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks held on for a 3-1 win against the Washington Nationals in the finale of their three-game series on Sunday afternoon in Phoenix.
Diamondbacks right-hander Corbin Burnes blanked the Nationals on four hits over 4 2/3 innings before the 2021 NL Cy Young winner left with an undisclosed injury.
Burnes was tagged with one earned run after his exit. He struck out six and walked one for Arizona, which had lost four in a row and nine of 10.
Nationals left-hander Mitchell Parker (4-5) settled in after a rocky start and allowed three runs and three hits over five innings. He struck out two and walked two.
The Nationals had won four in a row, scoring at least nine runs in each of those victories.
Ketel Marte singled through the left side to start the first for Arizona. He advanced to second on a deep flyout to center and scored on a double to right-center field by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. for a 1-0 lead.
Suarez then blasted a 466-foot home run to center to make it 3-0. The round-tripper tied for the fifth-longest in the MLB this season.
Burnes departed after giving up a single to CJ Abrams with two outs in the fifth. Jalen Beeks entered and walked James Wood before giving up an RBI single to Nathaniel Lowe that cut the lead to 3-1.
Cristian Mena (1-0) pitched a scoreless sixth and seventh for Arizona. Shelby Miller threw a perfect eighth and Justin Martinez pitched the ninth for his fourth save.
Parker settled in and retired 14 in a row before Geraldo Perdomo walked to lead off the sixth, and that ended his day. Eduardo Salazar entered and got Gurriel to hit a slow roller to third, but Jose Tena’s throw got away from second baseman Luis Garcia Jr., putting runners on the corners with no outs.
Salazar escaped the jam, however, finishing with a three-pitch strikeout of Ildemaro Vargas.
The game started out well for Burnes, who struck out the side in the first inning.
Josh Bell singled up the middle with one out in the second for the Nationals and Robert Hassell III followed with a double to right, putting runners on second and third. Burnes bounced back to strike out Keibert Ruiz and then got Tena to ground out to short to end the threat.
Burnes worked out of trouble again in the third after giving up a leadoff double to Daylen Lile.
–Field Level Media
