MacKenzie Gore delivered seven strong innings as the Washington Nationals defeated the visiting Seattle Mariners 6-1 on Friday night in the opener of a three-game interleague series.
Luis Garcia Jr., Keibert Ruiz, and Eddie Rosario each homered, accounting for all of the Nationals’ runs. This victory snapped a two-game skid for Washington, marking only their second win in the past nine games.
J.P. Crawford homered for the American League West-leading Mariners, who lost their third consecutive game and fell to 3-5 on their 10-game trip through Baltimore, New York, and Washington. Seattle, coming off a 5-0 shutout loss to the Yankees on Thursday, managed just five hits, two by Crawford, and struck out 10 times against Washington pitching.
Gore (3-4) allowed only one run, Crawford’s leadoff homer in the first inning. Over his seven innings, the left-hander gave up four hits, walked one, and struck out eight.
Nationals reliever Hunter Harvey pitched a perfect eighth inning, and Dylan Floro allowed an infield single and struck out two in a scoreless ninth.
Seattle’s Julio Rodriguez, recently moved to the No. 6 spot in the batting order, went 0-for-4.
Mariners right-hander George Kirby (4-5) took the loss, his second in a row. He allowed five runs on six hits, with one walk and three strikeouts. Kirby retired the side in order in each of the first three innings before CJ Abrams led off the fourth with a single to left field. Joey Meneses followed with another single, and Garcia drove a first-pitch slider into the Mariners’ bullpen in left field, giving Washington a 3-1 lead.
The Nationals extended their lead in the sixth inning after former Mariner Jesse Winker drew a two-out walk. Ruiz then homered to right-center on a 3-2 sinker, making it 5-1.
Rosario capped off the scoring with a leadoff homer to right in the bottom of the eighth on a 1-1 cut fastball from Mariners reliever Austin Voth, a former National.
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