Washington Nationals: Top 10 Games Of 2016 (10-6)
By Ricky Keeler
Triple Play In San Francisco
History was made on July 29 at AT&T Park when the Washington Nationals took on the San Francisco Giants. In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Nats pulled off their first triple play in the short history of the franchise during a 4-1 win.
Trailing 1-0 in the top of the fourth inning, Werth tied the game with a base hit to right against Jeff Samardzija. One inning later, a Ben Revere RBI single and a Daniel Murphy RBI triple put the Washington Nationals ahead 3-1.
Those three runs would be all that Max Scherzer would need. The eventual National League Cy Young award winner went seven innings, gave up one run on five hits, struck out six, and walked two as he picked up his 11th win of the season. The lone Giants run came on a Gregor Blanco RBI single in the second.
Things got a little interesting in the bottom of the eighth when the Giants loaded the bases against Oliver Perez and Blake Treinen. But, Sammy Solis ended up getting the Nats out of the mess when Brandon Crawford lined into the triple play. Shawn Kelley would end up getting the win in the ninth to secure the victory.
Without that triple play, the Nats might’ve lost three of those four games in San Francisco. One day later, the Washington Nationals fixed their bullpen when they completed the trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates for closer Mark Melancon and sent Felipe Rivero to Pittsburgh along with prospect Taylor Hearn.