MLB

Washington Nationals at Houston Astros

· Major League Baseball
Washington Nationals
27-40, 15-19 Away
Final
4 - 1
Houston Astros
39-30, 20-15 Home

Ruiz gets 2 big hits late as the Nationals beat the Astros 4-1 in 10 innings to avoid a sweep

Ruiz homered off Houston closer Ryan Pressly leading off the ninth to break a scoreless tie, but pinch-hitter Yainer Diaz tied it in the bottom half with a two-out RBI single against winner Hunter Harvey (3-3).

Thomas gave Washington a 2-1 lead with a one-out single off Phil Maton (0-2) in the 10th. Luis García singled and Jeimer Candelario was hit by a pitch before Corey Dickerson drew a bases-loaded walk.

“We fought,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “We still left a lot of guys on base, but we got big hits and big walks when we needed them.”

Ruiz hit a blooper to left field for his RBI single, but Matt Gage struck out Dominic Smith and Stone Garrett to leave the bases loaded.

“I think we were starting to get balls up in the zone and balls we could hit,” Martinez said of the late-inning at-bats. “Stayed in the middle of the field and got hits in the middle of the field, which was huge.”

Maton said he was trying to get the ball on the ground or a strikeout to get out of the 10th.

“The two 0-2 counts where we got contact on the ground and then me hitting Candelario are the ones I am more upset about, not really giving us a chance to get that big strikeout and make that inning a little bit easier,” Maton said.

Carl Edwards Jr. threw a scoreless inning for his second save.

Ruiz homered to right field on a 2-2 pitch from Pressly.

“Great at-bat by him right there. He stayed on a breaking ball,” Martinez said. “The way he hit it was a line drive. That’s awesome. Then, he comes up again and stays inside the ball, stays in the middle of the field and knocks in another big run for us. What a good day.”

Kyle Tucker doubled leading off the bottom of the ninth and scored on Diaz’s single up the middle.

MacKenzie Gore yielded four hits in 5 2/3 shutout innings for the last-place Nationals. He struck out four and walked three. It was his second scoreless start of the season.

“It wasn’t the prettiest outing that we’ve seen, but zeros play, and everybody did a good job coming in,” Gore said. “The bullpen was awesome. It was one of those days where I wasn’t great, but I went out there and got as many outs as I could.”

Mason Thompson tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief. Ruiz finished with three hits and Washington snapped an eight-game losing streak in games started by Gore.

Cristian Javier fired six shutout innings for Houston, scattering five hits and walking none. The right-hander has allowed one run or fewer in five of his last six starts.

“He was very good,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “Their guy was good, too. He’s one of the finer young pitchers that we have faced. … He was throwing 95-96 mph with a good slider and a good curveball. It was a pitchers' duel there until the very end.”

Javier retired 13 of 14 batters during one stretch. He got 15 of his 18 outs on flyouts or popups for the defending World Series champions.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Astros: SS Jeremy Peña returned to the lineup after missing the previous three games with an undisclosed illness. He went 1 for 4.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Baker celebrated his 74th birthday. Smith turned 28.

TIMER VIOLATION

Dickerson was called for a pitch-clock violation in the fourth, resulting in strike two. He ended up hitting a single on the 10th pitch of the at-bat.

UP NEXT

Nationals: RHP Trevor Williams (3-4, 4.11 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday night at home against Miami RHP Sandy Alcantara (2-5, 4.75) in the opener of a three-game series.

Astros: RHP J.P. France (2-1, 3.54 ERA) starts Friday night at home in the opener of a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds.

How can I watch Washington Nationals vs. Houston Astros?
  • TV Channel: Nationals at Astros 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.tv.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Astros: 71.1%
Nationals: 28.9%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

10th Inning Altuve grounded out to third.
10th Inning McCormick struck out swinging.
10th Inning Maldonado popped out to first.
10th Inning Edwards Jr. relieved Harvey
10th Inning Vargas in left field.
10th Inning Garrett in right field.

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/wsh.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originWSH https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/hou.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originHOU
1 Games Played 1
1 Team Games Played 1
1 Hit By Pitch 0
12 Ground Balls 11
6 Strikeouts 10
4 Runs Batted In 1
0 Sacrifice Hit 0
11 Hits 7
1 Stolen Bases 1
2 Walks 3
0 Catcher Interference 0
4 Runs 1
0 Ground Into Double Play 1
0 Sacrifice Flies 0
40 At Bats 35
1 Home Runs 0
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 0
19 Runners Left On Base 19
0 Triples 0
1 Game Winning RBIs 0
0 Intentional Walks 0
1 Doubles 1
22 Fly Balls 14
1 Caught Stealing 0
168 Pitches 163
0 Games Started 0
1 Pinch At Bats 2
0 Pinch Hits 1
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
1 Is Qualified In Steals 1
15 Total Bases 8
43 Plate Appearances 38
162.0 Projected Home Runs 0.0
2 Extra Base Hits 1
4.9 Runs Created 1.9
.275 Batting Average .200
.000 Pinch Hit Average .500
.375 Slugging Percentage .229
.150 Secondary Average .143
.326 On Base Percentage .263
.701 OBP Pct + SLG Pct .492
0.5 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 0.8
4.4 Runs Created Per 27 Outs 1.7
33.0 Batter Rating 14.0
40.0 At Bats Per Home Run 0.0
0.50 Stolen Base Percentage 1.00
3.91 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 4.29
.100 Isolated Power .029
0.33 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 0.30
.047 Walks Per Plate Appearance .079
-.125 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average -.057
8.0 Runs Produced 2.0
1.0 Runs Ratio 1.0
0.4 Patience Ratio 0.3
0.3 Balls In Play Average 0.3
85.0 MLB Rating 67.5
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

Minute Maid Park

Location: Houston, Texas
Attendance: 38,303 | Capacity:

2024 National League East Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Philadelphia 95 67 .586 - W1
Atlanta 89 73 .549 6 W1
New York 89 73 .549 6 L1
Washington 71 91 .438 24 L1
Miami 62 100 .383 33 W4

2024 American League West Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Houston 88 73 .547 - W2
Seattle 85 77 .525 3.5 W4
Texas 78 84 .481 10.5 W3
Oakland 69 93 .426 19.5 L3
Los Angeles 63 99 .389 25.5 L6
Full Standings