WASHINGTON — Abimelec Ortiz opened the third inning with an opposite-field home run and Will Dion retired the first nine batters he faced out of the bullpen as the Washington Nationals beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-1 on Sunday at Nationals Park to complete a three-game sweep.
Cincinnati scored the game’s only run in the second, and Washington answered immediately. The Nationals put up two in the bottom of the inning, took a 3-1 lead on the 24-year-old Ortiz’s second career homer in the third, tacked on a run in the seventh and broke it open with three in the eighth. Line score: Reds 010 000 000 — 1 4 1; Nationals 021 000 13X — 7 13 0. Washington collected 13 hits and played an error-free game in front of 21,375 at a 2 hour, 39 minute matinee. Jacob Young and Andres Chaparro each drove in two runs.
Brad Lord opened and surrendered the game’s only run before handing off to a bullpen that shut the door across the final 6 1/3 innings. Dion (1-0), acquired from Cleveland at the trade deadline, allowed one hit over three innings for his first win of the season. Trevor Williams followed with 2 1/3 scoreless frames, keeping his ERA at 0.00 since returning from elbow surgery on July 29, and Jake Bird worked a hitless ninth. Brady Singer (5-11) took the loss for Cincinnati, charged with the Ortiz homer.
The sweep moved Washington to 59-61, with four wins in its last five games, while Cincinnati dropped to 56-61. The Nationals stay home to open a three-game set against the Chicago Cubs at Nationals Park on Tuesday.
Sources: Baseball-Reference box score, Aug. 9, 2026 (Reds at Nationals); Associated Press game recap.