WASHINGTON (AP) — James Wood hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer with two outs in the eighth inning, and the Washington Nationals completed a three-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds with a 5-2 victory on Sunday.
Wood, a 21-year-old rookie and the Nationals’ top prospect, sent a first-pitch fastball from Justin Wilson 405 feet the opposite way to left field. His second homer since his debut on July 1 gave the Nationals their fifth win in six games.
“Electric. He’s something special,” Nationals starter Jake Irvin said. “And I’m excited to be a part of it. Excited for him.”
After general manager Mike Rizzo made clear on Friday that Washington is still in rebuilding mode, the Nationals (47-53) drew even in the wild-card standings with Cincinnati, which began the second half hoping to make a playoff push. The Reds have lost four straight and fell into last place in the NL Central.
“We have so much to play for. So much time left ahead of us that that’s the focus now,” Cincinnati manager David Bell said. “You have to find ways to improve, especially when things aren’t going well.”
Wood, who showed impressive power in the minor leagues, came into the game with two extra-base hits in three weeks in the majors. On Sunday, he had an infield single on a hard-hit comebacker and two drives to the outfield before he went deep.
“I kind of just kept my head up,” Wood said. “I felt like I was making good contact, and I kind of had to trust that, you know, the results will come.”
Irvin and Andrew Abbott dueled to a stalemate over seven innings. Irvin allowed solo homers to Noelvi Marte and Stuart Fairchild among five hits. He struck out seven and walked none, giving the Nationals’ bullpen the break it needed after it had to cover seven innings Saturday night.
Robert Garcia (2-3) pitched the eighth before All-Star Kyle Finnegan worked the ninth for his 28th save in 32 chances. He saved each of the three wins against the Reds.
“We really take pride in pitching in a lot of games and a lot of close games,” Finnegan said.
Abbott was stout for Cincinnati, giving up two unearned runs on six hits before yielding to Lucas Sims (1-4) for the final out of the seventh. Sims allowed a two-out single to Keibert Ruiz and a bunt single to Ildemaro Vargas in the eighth before Wood’s homer.
Abbott got some help from his outfield. Left fielder Will Benson made a diving, backhanded catch of a liner by Wood in the fourth to take away an extra-base hit, then dived again to snare a sinking liner by Jacob Young to end the inning. Center fielder Fairchild banged into the wall to catch a drive by Wood in the sixth.
Juan Yepez extended his hitting streak to a career-best 13 games with a double in the third. He has a hit in every game he’s played for Washington, the longest streak to begin a stint with a team since David Dahl’s 16 games for Colorado in 2016.
Reds All-Star Elly De La Cruz stole his major league-leading 48th base after a two-out walk in the eighth but was stranded when Jeimer Candelario popped out.
The Nationals scored two unearned runs in the third when catcher Austin Wynns threw to third to try to pick off Young, who scored when third baseman Marte whiffed on the catch. Harold Ramírez followed with an RBI single.
“Noelvi missed the ball. It led to two runs. Noelvi knows he missed the ball,” Bell said. “We had a lot of game left at that point.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Reds: OF TJ Friedl (right hamstring strain) began a rehab assignment at Triple-A Louisville.
Nationals: Irvin was visited briefly by trainers after he appeared to turn his ankle fielding a comebacker in the third.
UP NEXT
Reds: Right-hander Hunter Greene (6-4, 3.34 ERA) makes his first start since he took the loss in the All-Star Game as Cincinnati begins a three-game series at Atlanta.
Nationals: Have not announced a starter for Tuesday’s opener of a three-game series against visiting San Diego.
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