CJ Abrams and Alex Call drove in three runs apiece, and the Washington Nationals pulled away for a 9-3 win over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday night in Minneapolis.
Call and Luis Garcia Jr. each homered for Washington, which evened the series at one win apiece. Drew Millas finished with a team-high three hits and scored a pair of runs.
Ty France went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI for Minnesota. Royce Lewis finished 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
Nationals left-hander Mitchell Parker (7-10) held the Twins to two runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out four.
Twins right-hander Joe Ryan (10-5) allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits in five innings. He issued one walk and fanned five.
Millas helped to start the scoring for the Nationals in the third. He hit a leadoff single, stole second base and scored on Call’s single to left.
In the fourth, Garcia hit a leadoff blast to right-center field to make it 2-0.
Three more runs in the fifth increased the Nationals’ lead to 5-0. Abrams stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and no outs, and he delivered with a three-run double to right.
The Twins pulled within 5-2 in the sixth. Royce Lewis hit an RBI single to left, and Ty France followed up three batters later with an RBI double to left.
Washington answered with a run in the seventh to make it 6-2. Call hit a towering homer over the wall in right-center field for his third homer.
The Nationals put the game out of reach with three more runs in the eighth.
Garcia hit a leadoff double to center, and Josh Bell brought him home with an RBI single to center in the next at-bat. Bell later scored on a wild pitch by Twins reliever Kody Funderburk, and Call capped the inning with an RBI groundout to make it 9-2.
The Twins’ Matt Wallner hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth to cut the deficit to 9-3.
Twins outfielder Byron Buxton left the game early because of left side soreness. The team said Buxton’s status is day-to-day.
Center fielder Jacob Young left the game early for Washington because of a right index finger contusion. He was injured when a pitch hit him in the finger while he was trying to bunt, and Call replaced him in the top of the third.
–Field Level Media
