Tuesday started off really good against the Arizona Diamondbacks as the Nationals took Game 1 of the doubleheader against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the afternoon game. With an attendance of only 9,261, the Nationals beat the Diamondbacks 3-1, thanks to RBIs by Maikel Franco and Victor Robles.

Things against the Diamondbacks looked a bit bad as starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner was cruising until the bottom of the fifth inning when center-fielder Victor Robles hit an RBI double to break up the no-hitter and put the Nationals on the board. Then Cesar Hernandez had his own RBI double when he hit a sharp ground ball to left fielder David Peralta and Robles scored giving the Nationals a 2-1 lead and never looked back.

In the bottom of the sixth, Maikel Franco got an RBI when he singled a ground ball to center field scoring Nelson Cruz and the Nationals weren't done. In the bottom of the eighth Josh Bell had an RBI single on a line drive to right-center scoring Juan Soto and then two batters later, Keibert Ruiz hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Nelson Cruz from third. The Nationals got three additional insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. Overall, the Nationals had a total of seven hits and six runs.

From the pitching perspective, the Nationals starter RHP Josiah Gray had another impressive outing only giving up one run on three hits over 5.1 innings pitched. Gray struck out eight and only walked two. The only run that he gave up was a solo-homerun in the top of the third. Gray's ERA is now at 3.14 and has had two consecutive good starts, however, he needs to go a bit deeper into the game. Gray gets the win he’s now 2-1 with a 3.18 ERA and 18 SO on the season

The Nationals' bullpen also looked sharp once again by not giving up a run after Sean Doolittle entered the game in the fifth inning.

Josiah Gray Final Line: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 Ks, 1 HR, 87 P, 50 S,

The Nationals will play game 2 of Tuesday's doubleheader tonight with the first pitch at 7:05 p.m. EDT. Tonight's starting pitchers will be Joan Adon vs. Tyler Gilbert.

The Nationals have improved to a 5-7 record and now are currently tied for third place with the Atlanta Braves in the NL East.