The Washington Nationals fell 6-5 against the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night after a throwing error by second baseman Anthony Rendon in the eighth inning allowing the eventual go-ahead run to move into scoring position in a tied game.
Starting pitcher Tanner Roark had a solid outing despite giving up nine hits. Roark gave up five runs, one of which was a solo homer to outfielder Gerardo Parra in the seventh inning, while walking one batter and striking out four. He threw 101 pitches and 67 strikes.
Both offensive lineups chased after the other in a productive evening of hitting on both sides. Washington scored first against starting pitcher Matt Garza, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when outfielder Denard Span scored on a throwing error made by shortstop Jean Segura.
That lead didn’t last long though. Parra scored on a one-out RBI-triple hit by outfielder Ryan Braun to tie up the game 1-1 in the bottom half of the frame.
A solo homer hit by first baseman Clint Robinson pushed the Nats forward by a run in the second inning but a three-run rally in the fourth put Washington up by four runs giving them a nice cushion to work with while facing Garza. First baseman Clint Robinson and outfielder Michael A. Taylor jump-started the rally with a pair of one-out singles against Garza and proceeded to score thanks to a single hit by Span and throwing error made by Parra making it 5-1 in favor of the Nats.
That’s when Milwaukee caught back up with Washington.
The Brewers tallied a pair of runs on three hits in the bottom of the fourth, another run in the fifth, and an additional run — a solo homer by Parra — all off Roark to tie up the game at 5-5 heading into the eighth inning.
Rendon’s throwing error in the eighth allowed outfielder Shane Peterson to reach and enabled the late Milwaukee rally. Peterson scored Milwaukee’s sixth and final run of the night against reliever Aaron Barrett off a RBI-single hit by Scooter Gennett to win the game.
HERO: Ian Desmond. He entered the game in the top of the ninth as a pinch hitter with two out with his team down by a run and he hit a single. The Nats were “in it” until the end thanks to that hit.
GOAT: Anthony Rendon. He hasn’t been back in the majors long since his return from the disabled list so hiccups are to be expected but his error derailed what could have been a Nats win.
NATS NOTES:
- Danny Espinosa put in a night’s work at shortstop. He didn’t get any hits but he played solid defense.
UP NEXT: Jordan Zimmermann (5-3, 3.18) and the Washington Nationals face Mike Fiers (2-6, 4.06) and the Milwaukee Brewers in Wisconsin.
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