Lane Thomas drove in the go-ahead run with a 10th-inning sacrifice fly and the visiting Washington Nationals extended their winning streak to four games by defeating the host Detroit Tigers 5-4 on Tuesday.
Thomas had two RBIs. Kyle Finnegan (2-3) struck out three in 1 1/3 perfect innings to pick up the win in the opener of a three-game series.
Riley Greene had a three-run triple for the Tigers, who fell for the fourth time in five games.
Detroit starter Kenta Maeda gave up one run and one hit in four innings but walked four while striking out five. Washington starter Mitchell Parker allowed four runs, all unearned, in 4 2/3 innings. He yielded four hits and three walks while fanning one.
Washington took a 5-4 lead in the 10th as automatic runner Jacob Young moved to third on a wild pitch by Andrew Chafin (3-2). CJ Abrams, who swung through the errant pitch, reached first. Thomas then drove in Young with a fly ball to right.
The Tigers threatened in the first two innings and didn’t score.
Maeda’s control issues allowed the Nationals to take the lead in the third. Nick Senzel led off with a single. Young drew a one-out walk, and Thomas and Jesse Winker drew two-out walks to force in a run. Maeda then fanned Eddie Rosario to minimize the damage.
Beau Brieske replaced Maeda and gave up two fifth-inning runs. Joey Gallo led off with a single and scored on Abrams’ one-out triple to right. Thomas then drove in Abrams with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.
Parker got into more trouble in the bottom of the inning. This time, the Tigers broke through.
Parker walked Ryan Kreidler, then bobbled Andy Ibanez’s two-out comebacker. A walk to Mark Canha loaded the bases for Greene, who smashed a fastball off the right-center-field wall. The hit cleared the bases, and when second baseman Luis Garcia Jr.’s throw to third went awry, Greene trotted home to give Detroit a 4-3 lead.
The Tigers gave up an unearned run in the eighth. Thomas singled against Tyler Holton and advanced on Greene’s error in left field. Shortstop Kreidler bobbled a Winker grounder, putting runners on the corners. Ildemaro Vargas greeted reliever Shelby Miller with a sacrifice fly to right, bringing in Thomas to tie the score.
–Field Level Media
