BALTIMORE (AP) — Luis García Jr. homered twice and drove in five runs to lead the Washington Nationals to a 6-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.
Pete Alonso and Jackson Holliday each hit a two-run homer for the Orioles, but after Zack Littell (7-6) allowed two runs and three hits in five innings, a maligned Washington bullpen held on. PJ Poulin worked two hitless innings for his third save.
Alonso hit a 437-foot home run in the first and
Kyle Bradish (5-8) retired the first eight Washington hitters. But the right-hander walked five of the next 11 men he faced before being pulled. The Nationals managed just one hit off him in four-plus innings, but he allowed four runs, three earned.
The Nationals took the lead with three runs in the third, all with two out. After Bradish walked both Keibert Ruiz and James Wood, García doubled them both home. Then Curtis Mead hit a routine grounder to Coby Mayo at third, and Mayo threw wildly for an error that allowed another run to score.
Tyler Wells relieved Bradish and immediately yielded a two-run shot to García that made it 5-2 in the fifth. Then García added a solo shot in the seventh off Albert Suárez.
One bright spot for the Orioles was Colton Cowser, who had two hits and a stolen base. He also robbed Dylan Crews with a leaping catch at the wall in center field and threw out Ruiz trying to stretch a single into a double.
Holliday's home run in the seventh made it 6-4.
Nationals: Play at Boston on Monday night with Miles Mikolas (2-6) on the mound.
Orioles: Host the Chicago White Sox with Shane Baz (4-8) starting.
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