MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — CJ Abrams had two hits including a leadoff homer, stole three bases and scored three runs on Sunday as the Washington Nationals beat the Minnesota Twins 7-2.
Nationals starter Jake Irvin (8-5), a Twin Cities native pitching at Target Field for the first time, gave up two runs on five hits over seven innings. Josh Bell went 3 for 4 with an RBI.
Matt Wallner homered and Harrison Bader had two hits for Minnesota, which has lost six of nine since the All-Star break.
Daylen Lile tripled and scored on Paul DeJong’s sacrifice fly in the fourth to put the Nationals on top 3-2.
Washington broke it open with four runs in the fifth off Travis Adams (1-1), keyed by Alex Call’s two-run single.
Abrams hit the first pitch of the game from Twins opener Cole Sands for his 14th home run of the season.
After the Twins tied it on Wallner’s second-inning homer, Abrams manufactured a run for the Nationals. He led off the third inning with a single, stole second and third and scored on Luis García Jr.’s sacrifice fly.
Minnesota tied it again on Trevor Larnach’s sacrifice fly in the bottom half.
Key moment
Leading 4-2, the Nationals loaded the bases with one out in the fifth. Call hit a grounder up the middle that second baseman Brooks Lee was ready to turn into an inning-ending double play. Instead, the ball skipped off the side of the mound and caromed over Lee’s head for a two-run single.
Key stat
Abrams has five leadoff homers this year and 12 in 470 career games.
Up next
Simeon Woods Richardson (5-4, 4.14 ERA) will take the mound for the Twins on Monday as they open a three-game series against visiting Boston. The Nationals travel to Houston, where Brad Lord (2-5, 3.39) will start on Monday.
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