WASHINGTON, DC — The Washington Nationals opened a three-game series with the Houston Astros Monday night at Nationals Park, and it took a wild six-run fifth inning to finally put it away. Houston built an early cushion, Washington clawed all the way back to tie it, and then James Wood blew the game open with a grand slam that held up just enough in a 12-11 final.
Houston starter Mike Burrows was in trouble from the jump. After Curtis Mead’s RBI double tied it 1-1 in the first, Jose Altuve answered with a three-run homer in the second and Yainer Diaz added a two-run shot in the third to put the Astros up 6-1. Washington answered immediately: Luis Garcia and Mead each drove in a run to make it 6-3, and CJ Abrams tied it with a three-run homer of his own later in the inning, part of a three-hit, three-RBI night.
The Nationals took the lead for good in the fifth. Mead’s second homer of the night, a solo shot, made it 7-6, and after a Diego Millas sacrifice fly, Wood stepped in and drove a 446-foot grand slam to center — his second slam of the season — to cap a six-run inning and put Washington up 12-6. Houston made it interesting late, scoring four runs in the eighth on a Brady Shewmake double and a three-run homer from Brice Matthews to pull within one, but closer Cole Beeter worked around the trouble for his seventh save. Miles Mikolas got the win despite allowing seven runs over six innings, while Burrows was tagged with the loss after surrendering 10 runs — the most by an Astros pitcher in nearly three years.
The win pushes Washington to 47-45 on the season as they try to build on it in game two of the series Tuesday night, when left-hander Andrew Alvarez takes the mound against Houston’s Tatsuya Imai.