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WASHINGTON — CJ Abrams and Lane Thomas hit a home run, rookie Jake Irvin hit nine and the Washington Nationals defeated the San Francisco Giants 5-3 on Friday night.
JD Davis and Joc Pederson scored for the Giants, who have lost three straight games in a seven-game winning streak that spanned the All-Star break. San Francisco started Friday two games behind the NL West leaders Los Angeles Dodgers.
Abrams continued his hot month, notching his ninth multi-hit game in July after hitting 13 in his first 81 games. He’s developed well since taking the lead on July 7, shooting .415 (17-41) in Washington’s last 10 games. He defeated Alex Wood (4-4) with two outs in the second round, earning his ninth win of the season. He also doubled to take the fifth-round lead and chase Wood.
Abrams later stole his tenth base in 11 games in the fifth game and then scored on Joey Meneses’ two-out double.
“He’s not trying to do too much,” said Nationals manager Dave Martinez. “He’s trying to stay in the middle of the field. He’s trying to get to base for his teammates. I talk a lot about starting out and being the catalyst for eight other guys behind you and he’s doing that right now.”
The Nationals, who lost four of five games, scored twice in the first game. Thomas had a solo shot down the middle and Keibert Ruiz added an RBI double. Washington took a 4-3 lead in game four through Michael Chavis’ RBI double.
“Their squad is talented and we saw that when they were at our house (in May) and they were able to get their hands on a lot of balls,” San Francisco manager Gabe Kapler said. “And there are a couple of guys in their roster that are having really good years and they just took advantage of some throws in the middle of the field and they made us pay for it.”
Irvin (3-5) defeated the Giants for the second time this season. The 26-year-old right-hander ran a career-best 6 2/3 innings, hitting five hitters in one strikeout.
Irvin conceded a first-round solo home run against Davis and a two-run shot from Pederson that hit LaMonte Wade Jr. and landed in right field in the third deck. He leaned more and more on his move as his evening progressed, leading to 13 strikeouts and misses, another career high.
“I think it was pretty clear that they were starting to sit on the breaking ball, especially early in the counts with the Wade single and the Pederson home run,” Irvin said. “But after that, I kind of had to change the mojo, and I decided that switch ups would probably be the best way to throw the guys off balance.”
Kyle Finnegan made a 1-2-3 ninth on his 13th save.
Wood allowed five runs in more than four innings, allowing five hits and knocking out one.
TRAINING ROOM
Giants: Davis (illness) and Wade (left hamstring) started after missing two games in a row. … Kapler said that RHP Luke Jackson (back strain) “is close to” being taken off the injured list.
Nationals: RHP Hunter Harvey (elbow strain) said he has no timetable for his return after being placed on the injured list on Monday. “The only good thing about being hurt as badly as I am is that you kind of know the difference between normal pain and things you don’t want,” Harvey said. “We got into it early on, which is good because I didn’t get into it early last year and it took me a few months.” … RHP Carl Edwards Jr. (shoulder infection) threw a 21-pitch bullpen session on Friday.
NEXT
Giants: RHP Logan Webb (8-7, 3.11 ERA) is 1-0 this month with a 1.59 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 22 2/3 innings.
Nationals: RHP Josiah Gray (6-8, 3.59) is 2-0 with a 3.18 ERA in three career appearances against San Francisco, including a May 10 win at Oracle Park.
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