Two big swings from Abrams is all the Nationals needed to top the Tigers
The Washington Nationals beat the Detroit Tigers 3-1, behind a big night from CJ Abrams and his two home runs.
The Tigers had two batters specifically circled in the Nationals lineup to not let them see good pitches. One of them saw two and made them pay.
Abrams opened up the scoring in the second inning. He hit a fastball that was a mistake over the plate with two strikes and hit a solo home run to right field.
The Tigers had trouble converting baserunners into runs all night. They had more traffic on the basepaths; they just couldn’t get the big hit to get multiple runs across.
The Tigers left eleven runners on base, the Nationals left only three.
A wild pitch finally allowed the Tigers to tie the game in the sixth inning. Ben Malgeri reached on a fielder’s choice and then advanced to third base on a single from Max Clark. Malgeri then scored and tied the game 1-1 after a pitch bounced away at home plate.
Bulk reliever Jackson Kent managed to get double plays to work around his 4 innings of work allowing six hits, one run, two walks, and three strikeouts.
Abrams put the Nationals ahead once again in the seventh inning. Dylan Crews reached on an infield single to start the inning. Abrams then hit his second home run of the night 404-feet to push the lead to 3-1.
The Abrams two-run home run would end the night for Tiger starter Drew Andeson. He pitched 6 innings, allowed five hits, three earned runs, no walks, and five strikeouts. Unfortunately the last pitch he threw was the difference in the game.
Erik Tolman pitched the ninth inning for the Nationals to close out the win and earn the save.
