After breaking a four-game losing streak Saturday, the host Washington Nationals will look for their first series victory of the season in the finale of a three-game set against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday afternoon.
Getting there has not been easy for the Nationals.
They lost all but one run of a 4-0 lead in their 4-3 victory over the Diamondbacks on Saturday, overcoming a sloppy ninth inning — walk, wild pitch, infield single when the pitcher was late to cover first base — when catcher Riley Adams threw out Alek Thomas attempting to steal second base to end the game.
“I feel like we’ve been really close every game,” said left fielder James Wood, whose two-out, two-run double in a three-run first inning ignited the Nationals.
“Maybe a play here and a play there, and I feel like our record looks a lot different. So I just think we have to continue to close out games like this. We did a good job of scoring early and just got to keep the pressure on.”
The Nationals have had a trying early stretch. They never led while being swept in a three-game series at Toronto, and they failed to hold a 3-1 lead in a 6-4 loss to Arizona on Friday.
Alex Call had two run-scoring singles for the Nationals, who have won twice in eight games. They have not announced a starting pitcher for Sunday and are expected to use a bullpen game after Michael Soroka was placed on the 15-day injured list Friday with a biceps strain.
“We’ve got a great roster, top to bottom,” Call said. “I think it’s just a matter of time. Honestly, I’d like to see us kind of put the foot down and go a little bit more. I think we have an offense capable of scoring runs. So we did a good job getting on them early and then just kept battling throughout the game.”
Arizona, which had won four of its past five games, played without All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte after he was placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained left hamstring suffered Friday.
“These are the ones that are hard to swallow,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “We kept fighting. I don’t think we played smart in a couple of situations, and that’s probably the difference in the game.”
Call singled in Washington’s fourth run in the fourth after Diamondbacks left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. misplayed Josh Bell’s sinking liner that got to the wall and went for a triple.
Diamondbacks right-hander Corbin Burnes (0-0, 4.15 ERA) will seek his first victory in his second start Sunday after signing a six-year, $210 million free-agent deal in the offseason.
Burnes struck out eight and gave up four runs (two earned) in 4 1/3 innings against the New York Yankees last Tuesday. He did not get a decision in Arizona’s 7-5 comeback victory.
“For the most part, it was pretty good,” Burnes said. “Early on, the cutter was really good, and then we kind of just lost the feel for the cutter in the last couple innings. Just wasn’t consistent enough with it.”
Burnes spent six of his first seven seasons in the National League but has faced Washington only six times, three as a starter. He is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA in 21 innings against the Nationals, who are one of the three teams he has not beaten (minimum three appearances).
–Field Level Media
