The Padres scored six runs in the final two innings against Papelbon and Kelley as they defeated the Washington Nationals 10-6
The Washington Nationals had a 6-4 lead against the San Diego Padres going into the top of the eighth, but the duo of Shawn Kelley and Jonathan Papelbon gave up six runs in the final two innings as the Padres secured the win in the series finale, 10-6.
It was the Nats who scored the first run in the bottom of the first. After a Trea Turner triple and a Jayson Werth, Daniel Murphy drove in Turner with a sacrifice fly to center. But, that lead would go away two innings later when the Padres scored three in the third inning against Lucas Giolito. With the bases loaded and two out, Wil Myers hit a single to center that would end up scoring three runs due to defensive mistakes by Michael Taylor and Danny Espinosa.
Against Christian Friedrich, the Washington Nationals responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning. Giolito picked up his first Major League hit when he had a leadoff single to center. He would come around to score two batters later on a sac fly by Werth. Then, Murphy singled to right to drive in Turner, which tied the game at three.
After Murphy’s single, Wilson Ramos crushed a 2-0 changeup to left for a two-run home run that went 455 feet. His 14th home run of the season put the Nationals back in front, 5-3. Ramos was 3-for-4 with three RBI’s in the loss today.
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Despite getting back the lead, Giolito wasn’t able to finish the fourth inning. Ryan Schimpf would single to center to score Alex Dickerson (led off with a double) to cut the lead to 5-4. Three batters later, after two walks and a single, Dusty Baker went to Matt Belisle and he got out of the inning when Ramos picked off Derek Norris and when he struck out pinch-hitter Adam Rosales.
As for Giolito, it was not his best day in his return to the Major Leagues. He went 3.1 innings, gave up two runs on four hits, walked three, and didn’t strike out anyone on 66 pitches in a no-decision.
One inning later, Ramos added his third RBI of the day when he drove in Murphy with a two-out single to right, but that would be the Nats final run of the day.
The Washington Nationals bullpen trio of Belisle, Oliver Perez, and Blake Treinen shut out the Padres until the eighth when Kelley gave up back-to-back home runs to Dickerson and Schimpf, which ended up tying the game at six.
Since the Nationals failed to score in the bottom of the eighth after Murphy was left stranded on third, Papelbon entered the game for the third day in a row. Myers reached base on a one out walk and went to second on a wild pitch during a Matt Kemp strikeout.
With two outs, Yangervis Solarte hit a base hit to center that ended up giving the Padres back the lead, 7-6. Two batters later, with the bases loaded, Alexei Ramirez broke the game open with a double into left that ended up clearing the bases.
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Even in a loss, there were some positives on offense. Murphy and Ramos combined to go 6-for-7 with five RBI’s and Turner provided a spark at the top of the lineup as he went 2-for-5. Murphy, Ramos, and Turner were the only position players with hits today.
Next Game: The Washington Nationals will begin a two game series against the Cleveland Indians Tuesday night at Progressive Field. You can watch the game on MASN at 7:10 p.m ET. Gio Gonzalez (6-8, 4.53 ERA) will get the start for the Nats against All-Star Danny Salazar (11-3, 2.75) for the Indians.