Anthony Rendon‘s first home run was very fortuitous. It followed a Nick Swisher error on a foul pop-up and was the game winning run in the ninth.
Jun 15, 2013; Cleveland, OH, USA; Washington Nationals second baseman Anthony Rendon (6) celebrates his solo home run in the ninth inning against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
A miscommunication between Swisher and Jason Kipnis led to the foul ball dropping just feet right of the foul line. Rendon cashed in his second chance a couple pitches later to put the Nationals over .500 for the season.
Rendon’s home run was one of five of the night for the Nationals. Ryan Zimmerman, Jayson Werth, Ian Desmond, and Chad Tracy each had solo shots. The Nationals only other run came on a double play ground out from Adam LaRoche that scored Rendon in the third.
Drew Storen pitched the eighth and picked up a win to improve to 1-1. Rafael Soriano worked the ninth to record his 18th save.
The Nationals lead the Indians 5-0 in the third until Cleveland rallied back against Nationals starter Jordan Zimmermann. The Indians scored six unanswered runs to take the lead in the fifth. Michael Brantley’s two-run double in the fifth put the Indians on top. Solo homers by Carlos Santana and Mark Reynolds in the fourth helped Cleveland claw back.
Zimmermann struggled through five innings, gave up six runs, all earned, on eight hits, and struck out six.
Stephen Strasburg returns from the disabled list Sunday to take the mound for the Nationals to face Indians starter Corey Kluber.