On an afternoon when the Nationals were out-hit 11-7, it became a game of damage control, and a game that Foster Griffin and the Nats’ pitching staff played very well. Griffin made it eight consecutive starts today with one or fewer earned runs allowed, and that set a Washington Nationals franchise record. Griffin lasted seven innings for the fourth time in five games, en route to tossing seven frames of one-run ball.

The tightrope act was the fact that the Athletics put together eight hits against Griffin over those seven innings, and could only score the one run, making it even more amazing that the Nats’ lefty was able to do what he did to lead the Nationals to a series-winning victory on Sunday.

The Action

The ballgame began harmlessly for two innings, with Foster Griffin and Jacob Lopez, the two left-handed starting pitchers in today’s game, going back and forth, exchanging zeroes. The top of the third inning saw the Nationals break the scoreless tie, and it was Nasim Nunez, nearly single-handedly, who did it. Nunez led off the inning with a base hit, and over the course of the next at-bat, stole second and third base, allowing Curtis Mead to drive him in with an RBI groundout to make it 1-0.

The Athletics responded immediately in the bottom of the third thanks to an RBI single by Tyler Soderstrom to even the game at a run apiece. At this point, the game became a little bit of a back-and-forth affair, and the Nats continued that trend in the top of the fourth. Harry Ford continued to be a factor in his debut weekend with the Nationals, and made his presence felt with an RBI double to left field to score Dylan Crews and put Washington back ahead 2-1.

The top of the fifth was the inning that changed the game, particularly thanks to two big swings that both occurred in the span of three pitches. CJ Abrams came to the plate with a runner on base and one out against Elvis Alvarado and took advantage of a center-cut 99-miles-per-hour fastball, blasting it out to center field for a homer, making it 4-1. Dylan Crews was up next, in the midst of some very well-documented struggles, but put those behind him for an at-bat and made it back-to-back bombs for Washington to make it 5-1 good guys.

Foster Griffin continued to roll through the middle innings and into the later innings of the ballgame with the Athletics still stuck at one run. Griffin toed the tightrope again in the sixth inning after Shea Langeliers led off the inning with a double to immediately put pressure back on Griffin. Foster rose to the occasion, though, and retired the next three batters to end the threat. He then worked around a two-out double in the seventh, getting Jacob Wilson to pop up to left field to end the inning and give him another seven-inning gem of a performance.

Tom Cosgrove was called on to pitch the eighth and started off the frame looking dominant, striking out the first two batters of the inning before allowing two straight singles. Blake Butera wasn’t messing around and went straight to Clayton Beeter to try and nail this game down. He did just that, stranding the two runners on base to end the eighth, and ran right back out there for the ninth. The Athletics did get one back in the ninth on an RBI single by Jacob Wilson, but that would be it, and Clayton Beeter put the finishing touches on a 5-2 series-winning Curly W to get the boys back to .500 and start off the second half strong.

What’s Next?

The Nationals flew to Denver tonight, where they’ll begin a three-game series tomorrow night against the last-place Rockies. The series will get underway on Monday night at 8:40, with Andrew Alvarez (2-3, 4.04 ERA) getting the start for Washington against fellow left-hander Kyle Freeland (2-8, 7.36 ERA). The Nationals have a golden opportunity this week to bring their record back up well above .500, where it was just a couple of weeks ago. Let’s hope they can take advantage of it.

Down on the Farm

AAA Rochester

• 11-2 win today versus Jacksonville
• Luis Perales: 4.2 innings, 5 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts (3.67 ERA)
• Christian Franklin: 1-2, 3 walks (.250 BA, .745 OPS)
• Abi Ortiz: 1-4, home run (17), 4 RBIs, walk (.247 BA, .857 OPS)
• Brady House: 2-5 (.299 BA, .821 OPS)
• Andrew Pinckney: 2-4, double, walk (.295 BA, .824 OPS)
• Joey Wiemer: 1-4, double, RBI, walk (.209 BA, .551 OPS)
• Cayden Wallace: 2-4, RBI (.300 BA, .844 OPS)
• Tomorrow: Off-day

AA Harrisburg

• 2-0 win today versus New Hampshire
• Jake Irvin (Rehab start): 4.2 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 walks, 5 strikeouts
• Josh Randall: 4 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 6 strikeouts (4.41 ERA)
• Devin Fitz-Gerald: 2-4 (.174 BA, .452 OPS)
• Caleb Lomavita: 3-3, double (.248 BA, .825 OPS)
• Tomorrow: Off-day

High-A Wilmington

• 10-6 win today versus Jersey Shore
• Trevor Williams (Rehab start): 3.1 innings, 6 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts
• Yoel Tejeda: 4.2 innings, 2 hits, 2 runs, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts (3.74 ERA)
• Yeremy Cabrera: 1-4, home run (3), 2 RBIs, walk (.205 BA, .585 OPS)
• Angel Feliz: 3-5, 2 triples, RBI (.250 BA, .703 OPS)
• Jacob Walsh: 2-4, home run (5), 5 RBIs, walk (.237 BA, .709 OPS)
• Elijah Green: 3-4, double, 2 RBIs (.219 BA, .688 OPS)
• Tomorrow: Off-day

Low-A Fredericksburg

• 10-7 loss today versus Hill City
• Marlon de la Cruz: 2.2 innings, 2 hits, 3 earned runs, 5 walks, 1 strikeout (5.92 ERA)
• Coy James: 2-5, home run (13), RBI (.221 BA, .740 OPS)
• Luke Dickerson: 2-4, home run (12), RBI, walk (.239 BA, .846 OPS)
• Juan Cruz: 3-5, 2 doubles, home run (9), 3 RBIs (.277 BA, .851 OPS)
• Rafael Ramirez: 1-4, double, RBI (.275 BA, .849 OPS)
• Tomorrow: Off-day