James Wood belted the third pitch of the game for a home run, Brad Lord worked six strong innings, and the Washington Nationals held on for a 4-2 road victory over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday afternoon.
Paul DeJong and Josh Bell also homered, while left-hander Jose A. Ferrer pitched out of eighth- and ninth-inning jams to help the Nationals even the three-game series at a win apiece with just the second victory in the last 10 games.
Wood’s homer, his third of the season when leading off a game and 25th overall, got Washington rolling against Giants starter Carson Whisenhunt (1-1), who was making his third big-league start.
DeJong’s third home run of the year and Bell’s 14th came on a five-pitch sequence in the third inning, back-to-back solo shots that increased the visitors’ lead to 3-0.
Wood added a second extra-base hit, an RBI double, to make it 4-0 in the sixth before the Giants did the rest of the game’s scoring.
A home run by Rafael Devers, his 22nd of the season, ended Lord’s shutout bid in the sixth. The Giants, down 4-1, then loaded the bases with one out against the Nationals’ bullpen in the eighth.
Ferrer came on to retire pinch-hitter Wilmer Flores on a sacrifice fly to left field, making it 4-2, and then struck out Matt Chapman to retain the two-run advantage.
The Giants also put the potential tying runs on base in the ninth when Jung Hoo Lee and pinch-hitter Christian Koss singled with one out.
But, again, Ferrer saved his best for last, getting Patrick Bailey to ground into a game-ending double play to nail down his second-career save and his first of 2025.
Lord (3-6), a rookie making just his 10th big-league start, limited the Giants to one run and four hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out five.
Whisenhunt was pulled after four innings and giving up three runs and five hits. He walked three and fanned five.
Young, DeJong and Bell all had two hits for Washington, which out-hit the hosts 11-8.
Devers added a single and two walks to his home run, while Heliot Ramos also collected two hits for the Giants, who saw a three-game winning streak come to an end.
–Field Level Media
