Yadiel Hernandez drove in four runs and drilled one of two Washington home runs as the Nationals ended the visiting Houston Astros’ 11-game winning streak by winning 13-6 on Saturday night.
Maikel Franco homered and knocked in three runs and Nelson Cruz provided three RBIs and three hits the Nationals won for just the second time in their last six games.
Josh Rogers (2-2), with one shutout inning of relief, was the winning pitcher after starter Erick Fedde worked four innings and gave up three runs on five hits.
The Astros had racked up several lopsided victories, but this time they were on the other end as they endured the second-largest margin of defeat this season. Starting pitcher Cristian Javier (2-1) was gone after 3 2/3 innings by giving up seven runs. It was just his third start of the season as Houston reconfigured its rotation.
Jose Siri homered, tripled and posted three hits for Houston, which had matched the longest winning streak in the big leagues this season. Yuli Gurriel also notched three hits.
The Nationals scored in five of the first six innings, building a 13-4 lead by reaching a double-figure run total for the fifth time this season. They had four consecutive frames of multiple runs.
That was more runs allowed by Houston than the total (12 runs) given up during its 11-game winning streak.
Every batter in the lineup except for leadoff man Cesar Hernandez had at least one hit for the Nationals. Washington ended up with 14 hits and drew five walks.
Yadiel Hernandez drove in the game’s first run with a first-inning single. His three-run homer in the third stretched the margin to 4-0, giving him three home runs this season.
In the fourth, Houston’s Gurriel doubled in one run and later scored on Aledmys Diaz’s single.
The Nationals used five relievers for one inning apiece.
–Field Level Media