WASHINGTON — Six walks in the first inning and back-to-back home runs from Luis Garcia Jr. and Dylan Crews carried the Washington Nationals past the Toronto Blue Jays, 8-6, on Tuesday night at Nationals Park, evening their three-game series after Monday’s 3-2 loss.
The game got off to a rocky start for Toronto after a 67-minute rain delay. James Wood walked to lead off the bottom of the first, and CJ Abrams reached on an infield single to load the bases before Blue Jays starter Shane Bieber walked Keibert Ruiz and Daylen Lile to force in two runs. Abrams later scored on a sacrifice fly, and Bieber issued back-to-back walks to make it 4-0 before he was pulled after two-thirds of an inning — the six walks were the most by Washington in a single inning in Nationals history dating back to 2005. Garcia and Crews turned the game into a laugher with back-to-back homers in the fourth, and Garcia finished with two hits, as did Brady House.
Cade Cavalli (8-4) won his third straight start, allowing three runs — two earned — on six hits across six innings with three strikeouts. Toronto trimmed the deficit to 8-3 in the eighth on a Kazuma Okamoto error at short by Abrams and a three-run homer from George Springer, but Orlando Ribalta retired the next three batters and Clayton Beeter closed it out with a perfect ninth for his 11th save. Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. exited in the fourth inning with right hamstring tightness.
Washington improved to 55-53 on the season with the win. The Nationals and Blue Jays close out the series Wednesday at Nationals Park before Washington opens a three-game set at Atlanta on Thursday, July 30.