PHOENIX, ARIZONA - MAY 31 - The Washington Nationals defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 11-7 after a historic early offensive explosion. Michael Soroka had a solid start as well and, despite some scary moments, the bullpen kept things locked down to get the victory.

Soroka took the bump about a half hour after the game started, and he did not seem fazed in the slightest. He got a quick 1-2-3 inning, and did the same in the second and third frames. With two outs in the bottom of the fourth, he allowed a single to Geraldo Perdomo on his bobblehead night. The next hitter, Josh Naylor, hit a home run to put Arizona on the board and cut the deficit to nine. Soroka recorded an out in the sixth, but was pulled after allowing two hits in favor of Jackson Rutledge. He did allow Soroka’s runners to score, placing his final line at 5.1 innings, six hits, four runs, a walk, and three strikeouts to put his ERA at 5.81 while picking up his second win.

Rutledge also allowed three of his own on top of Soroka’s runners to score while finishing the five-run sixth, as things snowballed left and right off the young reliever. Jose A. Ferrer relieved him and pitched a scoreless frame to get the ball to Cole Henry, another young arm who tossed two scoreless innings (with a huge outfield assist from James Wood) to finish the game.

Offensively, tonight was a historic showing for Washington. The team scored nine runs before recording a single out, and the 10 total runs in the first inning had never happened before in franchise history. CJ Abrams also became the eighth player since 1969 to be hit by two pitches in the same inning, according to the Nationals Communications team. By the end of the first, the team had a 10-run lead after 16 plate appearances and five doubles. They chased Brandon Pfaadt from the game without him recording an out, forcing the D-Backs bullpen to step up for all nine innings. The second frame saw the Nats load the bases again before Nathaniel Lowe grounded out to score the 11th run of the night, just five outs into the game. While that would be all of the offense on the night, it proved to be enough as the Nats picked up a historic win, boosting their momentum as they picked up their fourth straight win.

Up next…

The Nats will look for the sweep tomorrow in Arizona as they send Mitchell Parker to the mound to face Corbin Burnes. Parker will look to bounce back after a rocky start in Seattle, which was the Nats most recent loss. The team will then head home to face the Cubs on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday before hosting Patrick Corbin and the Rangers next weekend.