WASHINGTON — CJ Abrams drove in three runs and Foster Griffin worked into the seventh inning as the Washington Nationals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-3, on Saturday afternoon at Nationals Park.
Arizona starter Mitch Bratt (0-1) ran into trouble in the third, when Abrams’ two-run double and Daylen Lile’s two-run triple erased a 2-0 deficit built on Gabriel Moreno’s two-run single off Griffin in the top half of the inning. Abrams added a solo home run — his 25th of the season — in the fifth to make it 5-2.
Griffin (12-2) allowed six hits and three earned runs over 6 2/3 innings, striking out two before handing off to Gerardo Carrillo, who escaped a bases-loaded jam in the eighth. Clayton Beeter worked around a leadoff single in the ninth to close it out for his ninth save, retiring Nolan Arenado for the final out.
The win moved Washington to 53-52 on the season, two games back of Arizona for the final National League wild-card spot. The Nationals and Diamondbacks close out the three-game series Sunday at Nationals Park.