Weather: 82 degrees, Cloudy.
Wind: 1 mph, In From RF.
Umpires: HP--Barksdale, 1B--Barrett, 2B--Lentz, 3B--Tumpane.
Time: 2:37
Attendance: 21,873
Patrick Corbin had another strong outing for the Nats, setting the tone
by fanning the side in the top of the first, and retiring the final 9 batters
he faced. The fourth was his only rough inning, when he gave up 3 of his 5
hits, but Robles gunned down Alex Gordon on Cheslor Cuthbert’s one-out single
to keep the visitors off the board.
Kansas City’s Jakob Junis was almost as effective through his first 5 innings,
although he did allow a solo HR to Brian Dozier in the 2nd. The Nats
missed a great chance in the 6th, when Rendon grounded into a double
play and Soto flied out after a Turner double and an Eaton walk. They did
double their lead off Junis in the 7th when Robles homered.
As has so often been the case, however, the 8th inning was
not kind to the Nats’ bullpen. Martin Maldonado led off with a single off
Fernando Rodney, and pinch-runner extraordinaire Terrance Gore promptly stole
second. Rodney retired the next two batters, but Adalberto Mondesi blooped a
single in front of Soto to score the Royals’ first run of the game. Davey’s
strategy of having Doolittle warmed up for the left-handed-swinging Gordon
backfired, as he doubled on Sean’s first pitch to tie the game.
The Washington offense finally came to life in the bottom of the
inning, with Jake Diekman replacing Junis on the mound. With one out, an Eaton
single and a Rendon double gave the Nats back the lead, then Kendrick doubled
in two insurance runs following a Diekman error. Doolittle preserved the
victory in the 9th, despite subpar velocity on his fastball.
