WASHINGTON, D.C. - APRIL 7 - The Washington Nationals defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-4 in Sunday’s rubber match, as the Nats won consecutive games for the first time this year to pick up a series win. A third-straight early offensive explosion (this one off of former Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes) and an effective outing from Trevor Williams propelled Washington to the Curly W, even if it was a little stressful down the stretch.

Williams took the mound for Washington instead of Michael Soroka, who was placed on the injured list after his first outing in Toronto. Williams could pitch on regular rest due to the Nationals having this past Thursday off, pushing the need for a new starter to Tuesday night. It was shaky early, with Corbin Carroll hitting a leadoff triple, and a sacrifice fly gave Arizona a 1-0 lead just four pitches into the game. Williams settled in and limited the damage to just that one, giving his team a chance to answer. In general, Williams did a good job of keeping this quiet. Jose Herrera would hit a solo homer in the second after the umpire missed what would have been strike three, and Pavin Smith singled in the fifth to drive a run in, but that was all of the scoring he allowed. He departed after 5.0 innings, throwing 96 pitches, 56 of which were strikes. Williams allowed five hits, three runs, and two walks while striking out six.

Lucas Sims came in to relieve Williams for the sixth inning, a move that angered many fans from the moment Dave Martinez made the call. Sims ended up getting a 1-2-3 inning, and Martinez let him come back out in the seventh inning. He struck out Herrera before walking Garrett Hampson, which led the skipper to pull him in favor of lefty Jose A. Ferrer so that it would be lefty-lefty for Corbin Carroll. He would get a single, but Ferrer buckled down to get out of the inning without a scratch. Jorge Lopez came in and allowed a run, but still was able to get the ball to closer Kyle Finnegan in a one-run game. Even though the tying run reached third base, Finnegan secured the win with a broken-bat grounder to CJ Abrams. The play was challenged by Arizona, but the call stood, and the Nationals took home the win.

Offensively, the Nationals exploded in the first inning yet again. Abrams walked, Luis Garcia Jr. singled, and Nathaniel Lowe doubled to tie the game at one. James Wood walked right after, and Alex Call singled to score Garcia Jr. Unfortunately, Lowe was out at home, but the Nats had an early lead again.

The Nats then kept the pressure on in the second with a Paul DeJong double, as Abrams would soon drive him in with a sacrifice fly. The very next inning, they mounted a two-out rally as Josh Bell was hit by a pitch, Call walked, and DeJong hit another to drive in Bell. Call was thrown out at the plate with yet another perfect throw from the D-Backs, but the Nats had a 4-2 lead, so it was not the end of the world. The Nationals could not get to Burnes again, but a Dylan Crews single in the bottom of the sixth set the stage for one more rally. Crews stole second, a Garcia Jr. fly out got him to third, and a Keibert Ruiz singled drove him in and expanded the lead to 5-3. While that would be the last run the Nationals would score, it kept the pressure on the D-Backs late, which is huge in winning close games. They hadn’t been consistent with it until this series, and it showed.

Ultimately, the Nats walked away with a good win for the second day in a row against a really good team. As the team looks to get back on the right track early in the season, these past two performances can be used as great examples of what they need to be doing every day. Nine hits, seven walks, and seven strikeouts in 29 at-bats will serve you well in this league most of the time.

Up next…

MacKenzie Gore will take the mound tonight at 6:45 against the Dodgers in the first game of a three-game set. The Dodgers are 9-2, so the Nationals would love to steal some games here and boost their confidence.