Washington Nationals at Milwaukee Brewers

· Major League Baseball

Washington Nationals

44-52, 24-28 Away

Final
6 - 5

Milwaukee Brewers

54-42, 28-17 Home

CJ Abrams' late home run caps Nationals' 6-5 comeback over Brewers

Left-hander Mitchell Parker couldn’t get out of the first inning, throwing 46 pitches and recording just two outs while putting the Nationals in a 5-0 hole. But Washington’s bullpen kept the Brewers’ offense at bay over the final eight innings, allowing only three hits while striking out 10 batters.

“That was an unbelievable win,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. "The boys stayed in it and we battled back, I can’t say enough about what the bullpen did today. They were the saviors. To come back from a 5-0 deficit is never easy."

The Nationals’ offense did it’s part, scoring three runs on five straight hits to open the fourth and send Milwaukee starter Dallas Keuchel to an early exit.

“Things just didn't go my way on the ground today,” Keuchel said.

Luis Garcia made it a 5-4 game with a pinch-hit home run to lead off the sixth and then put the go-ahead and winning runs aboard with two out in the eighth.

Brewers manager Pat Murphy called on closer Trevor Megill (0-2) to snuff out the rally, which he did by striking out pinch-hitter Jesse Winker but wasn’t as lucky coming back out for the ninth.

Megill gave up a leadoff single to Garcia, who moved to second on Jacob Young’s sac bunt. That brought up Abrams, who sent a 1-0 four-seamer 416 feet to center for his 15th homer of the season.

“We went down early but we have fight in us,” said Abrams, who'll represent Washington in the All-Star Game next week. “Our bullpen did a great job and we swung the bats.”

Derek Law (5-2) picked up the victory for Washington while Kyle Finnegan worked a scoreless ninth to earn his 25th save.

'“You’ve got to tack on runs and keep playing hard,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “The bottom line is we played well enough to win but they played a little bit better when they needed to.”

Outfielder Christian Yelich got the day off Saturday, his first since May 15.

Yelich, the current National League batting leader, had started 52 straight games. He’d been spectacular during that stretch, slashing .316/.409/.477 with 6 home runs, 18 stolen bases and an .886 OPS – earning a starting spot on the NL All-Star team in the process – but got a break after going 0-for-6 with a pair of strikeouts in his last two.

“I think (he’s) been banged up a little bit,” Pat Murphy said. “He needed a day.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Nationals: After the game, Washington announced it had traded right-handed reliever Hunter Harvey to the Kansas City Royals for minor league infielder Cayden Wallace and the Royals’ 39th pick in Sunday’s MLB amateur draft.

Harvey, 29, had appeared in 43 games this season, posting a 4.20 ERA with 50 strikeouts over 45 innings, including a scoreless eighth Friday night in a 5-2 victory over Milwaukee. Wallace, 22, is currently on the injured list with an oblique strain but was the Royals’ No. 2 prospect after slashing .282/.350/.427 with 3 home runs, 16 RBI and a .777 OPS at Double-A Northwest Arkansas this season. He was Kansas City’s second round pick in the 2022 MLB amateur draft.

The Nationals optioned right-hander Jordan Rutledge back to Triple-A Rochester and recalled right-hander Eduardo Salazar, who has a 0.84 ERA with 15 strikeouts and two walks in 10 ⅔ innings for Rochester after the Nationals claimed him off waivers from Seattle last month.

“I really want to give him a chance, especially in the next couple of days, see what he can do and get him in there,” Martinez said.

Brewers: RHP Devin Williams (back) began a minor-league rehab assignment Saturday with Class A-Wisconsin. The All-Star closer has yet to pitch for the Brewers this season after undergoing surgery to repair stress fractures in his back during Spring Training but is expected to make his debut before the end of the month.

The teams wrap up their series and the first half Sunday. RHP Colin Rea (8-3, 3.81 ERA) will start for Milwaukee with LHP Jake Irvin (7-7, 3.13) scheduled to go for the Nationals.

How can I watch Washington Nationals vs. Milwaukee Brewers?

TV Channel: Nationals at Brewers 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.tv.
Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Brewers: 57.4%

Nationals: 42.6%

*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Ortiz flied out to right.
	9th Inning	Chourio grounded out to catcher, Bauers to second.
	9th Inning	Bauers walked.
	9th Inning	Bauers hit for Haase
	9th Inning	Perkins flied out to right.
	9th Inning	Finnegan relieved Law

Statistics

WSH		MIL
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
0	Hit By Pitch	0
20	Ground Balls	5
6	Strikeouts	12
6	Runs Batted In	5
1	Sacrifice Hit	0
12	Hits	6
0	Stolen Bases	3
2	Walks	6
0	Catcher Interference	0
6	Runs	5
2	Ground Into Double Play	0
0	Sacrifice Flies	0
36	At Bats	32
2	Home Runs	0
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
15	Runners Left On Base	15
0	Triples	0
1	Game Winning RBIs	0
0	Intentional Walks	0
3	Doubles	3
11	Fly Balls	15
0	Caught Stealing	0
146	Pitches	184
0	Games Started	0
3	Pinch At Bats	0
1	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
0	Is Qualified In Steals	1
21	Total Bases	9
39	Plate Appearances	38
324.0	Projected Home Runs	0.0
5	Extra Base Hits	3
6.7	Runs Created	3.9
.333	Batting Average	.188
.333	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.583	Slugging Percentage	.281
.306	Secondary Average	.375
.368	On Base Percentage	.316
.952	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.597
1.8	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	0.3
6.7	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	4.0
48.0	Batter Rating	35.0
18.0	At Bats Per Home Run	0.0
0.00	Stolen Base Percentage	1.00
3.74	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	4.84
.250	Isolated Power	.094
0.33	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.50
.051	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.158
-.028	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	.188
12.0	Runs Produced	10.0
1.0	Runs Ratio	1.0
0.6	Patience Ratio	0.4
0.4	Balls In Play Average	0.3
97.3	MLB Rating	76.8
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0