James Wood hit a three-run triple, Luis Garcia Jr. homered for the second straight game and Mitchell Parker pitched six shutout innings to help the Washington Nationals defeat the visiting Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 on Sunday afternoon.
The Nationals fended off a late push by the Brewers to win the rubber match of the three-game series. Washington also took two of three in a series in Milwaukee last month.
After getting pulled before completing a single inning against the Brewers on July 13, his only other career start against Milwaukee, Parker (6-6) had a much better showing on Sunday.
The left-hander limited the Brewers to three hits over six scoreless innings. He also recorded three strikeouts and three walks in the win.
Garcia stayed hot at the plate and hit a first-inning solo home run, his 13th of the season, to give the Nationals the early lead.
Washington carried that 1-0 advantage into the bottom of the sixth, when it loaded the bases on three singles. With one out, Wood smashed a liner into left field just beyond the diving reach of Jackson Chourio for a bases-clearing triple to make it 4-0.
After struggling offensively for most of the game, Milwaukee scored three runs off of Nationals reliever Robert Garcia in the top of the eighth inning.
William Contreras grounded into an RBI fielder’s choice with runners at the corners, and Gary Sanchez followed with a two-run blast, his eighth home run of the season.
Rhys Hoskins singled to lead off the top of the ninth before Blake Perkins flied out. Kyle Finnegan then recorded his 30th save of the season by getting Brice Turang to ground into a double play.
The Brewers also hit into double plays in the first and third innings, and they stranded a runner at third in the fifth.
Milwaukee’s Tobias Myers (6-5) picked up the loss after pitching five innings. He gave up one earned run on four hits while striking out two and walking one.
–Field Level Media