BALTIMORE (AP) — Pat Valaika homered twice — doubling his total for the season — and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Washington Nationals 6-1 on Friday night for just their second victory in their last 11 home games.
Josh Bell went deep for Washington in the fourth inning, but that 1-0 lead for the Nationals didn’t last long. Baltimore scored twice in the fourth before Valaika’s solo shot in the fifth.
Valaika hit another solo homer in the seventh to make it 6-1. He had one home run all season before hitting one Wednesday at Tampa Bay. After an off day Thursday, he led the Orioles past the Nationals.
Jorge López allowed a run and four hits in 4 2/3 innings. He was pulled one out short of the win — at that point, Baltimore led 2-1 and Juan Soto was coming up with the tying run on third. Paul Fry (4-3) retired Soto on a grounder, then struck out the side in the sixth.
Patrick Corbin (6-9) allowed four earned runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Austin Hays doubled in a run in the fourth to tie the game at 1, and he later scored on a single by Ramón Urías. In the sixth, Urías came up with a man on third and hit a groundball, and shortstop Trea Turner’s throw home was high. The play was scored as a fielder’s choice, and that run made it 4-1.
Urías then went to third when Bell let a pickoff throw get past him at first base for an error. Pedro Severino scored Urías with a sacrifice fly.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Nationals: RHP Stephen Strasburg has had some neck discomfort recently. “We backed him down again,” manager Dave Martinez said before the game. “I know they’re going to look at some different options, probably see if we can find another specialist for him to go see.” Strasburg hasn’t pitched since June 1.
Orioles: 3B Maikel Franco (sprained right ankle) was reinstated from the injured list and was in the starting lineup. He went 0 for 3. … Manager Brandon Hyde said he’s hoping LHP Keegan Akin and OF Anthony Santander, who are on the COVID-19 injured list, can be back by the middle of next week.
UP NEXT
Max Scherzer (7-4) takes the mound for the Nationals against Baltimore’s Matt Harvey (4-10) on Saturday night. Harvey threw six scoreless innings in his last start to snap a 12-game winless streak.
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