Washington Nationals Defeat Cincinnati Reds 10-8

WASHINGTON, D.C. - JULY 21 - The Washington Nationals defeated the Cincinnati Reds at home on Monday night. Jake Irvin had a rough outing, but the lineup picked him up throughout the game en route to the win.

Irvin took the bump for Washington, looking to start his second half off strong. Despite allowing a leadoff single, he made quick work of the Reds in the first inning, pitching to contact for three straight flyouts. He then pitched a 1-2-3 second, and it looked as if Irvin was locked in coming out of the break. The righty allowed a double to open the third, but three straight outs in-play got him out of it with no stress. Entering the fourth inning with a seven-run lead, Irvin got himself into trouble with a leadoff walk and a passed ball. Another free pass and a single followed, putting Cincinnati on the board. Three more singles occured in a row, and the lead was suddenly cut to three. Irvin induced a ground out to make it a 7-5 game, and interim manager Miguel Cairo pulled his starter with two outs following another walk. Irvin departed after 3.2 innings, having allowed five runs on six hits and three walks. His ERA is now 4.81.

Mason Thompson relieved Irvin, and immediately induced a lineout to end the inning. He ran into trouble in the fifth, however, walking two batters to start the frame. Cole Henry came in as the fireman, and allowed just one of the runners to score, putting the game at 8-6. Andrew Chafin pitched a perfect sixth, and Luis García pitched an equally dominant seventh. Jose A. Ferrer got the ball to Kyle Finnegan, who allowed a two singles and a walk within his first four batters faced, making the game 10-7. After a striekout and a wild pitch, it was a two-run game with one out to go. Finnegan induced a pop-up, and that was that.

Offensively, the Nationals exploded early and often. CJ Abrams walked to start the night, and James Wood doubled to score him. Josh Bell then hit a double of his own before Nathaniel Lowe walked, as four straight batters reached base to open up the series. Brady House struck out, but Daylen Lile tripled to give Washington an early 4-0 lead.

Bell opened the third inning with a solo shot to right field to extend the lead to five, but that was not all. Riley Adams doubled later in the inning to bring in House, who had singled. Jacob Young then singled, bringing in another run and making the score 7-0. House hit a sac-fly to bring in Wood in the fourth, who had hit another double to open the frame. In the sixth, House singled and stole a bag, opening the door for an Amed Rosario double to score the rookie. Young hit another single to score Rosario, which marked the end of the night’s scoring for Washington.

Up next…

The Nationals will continue this series with the Reds tomorrow, sending Brad Lord to the mound to face rookie Chase Burns, who will enter with a 6.19 ERA over 16 innings with 25 strikeouts.