Nationals' four-run eighth turns 13-hit grind into 6-5 comeback over Angels

A box score that refused to match the score

The strangest part of this one was how long the scoreboard ignored the rest of the evidence. Washington finished with 13 hits to Los Angeles' four, yet it spent most of the afternoon chasing because the Angels were more efficient with their best swings. Moises Ballesteros opened the scoring with a solo homer in the fourth, then Zach Neto added another solo shot in the fifth for a 2-0 lead. Washington's pitching still kept the game from getting away: Riley Cornelio gave the Nationals two scoreless innings at the front, and even with Jake Irvin allowing both home runs across five innings, the staff piled up 13 strikeouts and limited the Angels to scattered contact.

Meanwhile, the Nationals kept placing runners on base and kept leaving them there. James Wood reached three times on two hits and a walk. CJ Abrams had two hits and later scored the first Washington run. Yohandy Morales and Daylen Lile added two hits apiece, and Keibert Ruiz chipped in another, but the breakthrough stayed delayed. Grayson Rodriguez bent plenty for the Angels over five and one-third innings, allowing seven hits, yet only two runs crossed against him. That disconnect explains the stat that hovered over the whole afternoon: Washington left 20 runners on base and still won.

The tie finally came in the sixth, and even that inning captured the Nationals' uneven day. Morales singled to center to bring home Abrams and cut the deficit to 2-1. A little later, Brady House grounded into a fielder's choice that scored Morales while Ruiz was retired at second, knotting the game at 2-2. Washington had wiped out the homer damage, but it still had not taken command of a game in which its lineup was creating far more traffic than Los Angeles'.

The inning that broke open twice

The Angels briefly reclaimed the script in the eighth. Erik Tolman, who struck out two in his inning of work, was undone by a wild pitch that brought Neto home for a 3-2 Los Angeles lead. Ballesteros then added a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Wade Meckler and pushing it to 4-2. For an Angels offense that struck out 13 times and managed only four hits all game, those two extra runs felt enormous. Ballesteros, in particular, was at the middle of nearly everything that mattered for Los Angeles, finishing with the homer, the sacrifice fly and two RBI.

Then came the bottom half, the stretch that turned a frustrating Nationals day into a winning one. Daylen Lile tripled to right to score Morales and trim the lead to one. Jorbit Vivas followed with a single to left that plated Lile for 4-4. Jacob Young put Washington ahead with a double to left, scoring Vivas, and Dylan Crews kept the line moving with a single that brought in Young for a 6-4 lead. That sequence mattered because it was built on repeated contact rather than a rescue swing. Washington did not homer once, but in that inning it strung together exactly the kind of extra-base hit and clean singles it had been threatening all afternoon.

The Angels still made the ninth uncomfortable. Christian Moore grounded out to third, and Josh Lowe scored to pull Los Angeles within 6-5. Jack Sinclair was charged with that run, but Washington still closed the door and kept the comeback intact. After spending so much of the day watching chances drift away, the Nationals finally had a late inning sturdy enough to survive the last push.

Our take: Washington earned the reward, but both clubs left homework behind

Our take: Washington deserved this result because it kept forcing the game toward its own strengths. A team that hits .361, reaches at a .410 clip and records 13 hits usually should not need a late escape, and that is the warning tucked inside the celebration. The Nationals left 20 on base, went just 6-for-36 overall despite that traffic, and nearly gave back the afternoon with six walks issued and a wild pitch on the mound. The comeback was real, but so was the waste that made it necessary.

For the Angels, the lesson is almost the mirror image. Neto and Ballesteros supplied the power, and the lineup drew six walks, which is enough table-setting to expect more than five runs from four hits. But the strikeout total kept breaking innings in half. Los Angeles whiffed 13 times and left 12 on base, so too much of the offense depended on isolated damage: two home runs, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly. When that is the mix, even a two-run lead in the eighth can feel less secure than it looks.

There is also a clear pitching divide in the way the final innings played out. Rodriguez and Tayler Saucedo kept the Angels in useful shape through six and one-third innings, allowing just two runs combined. Luke Murphy's eighth inning changed everything, as Washington collected four hits and four runs against him in a single frame. That is the sharpest read on the game: the Nationals eventually won by refusing to stop making contact, while the Angels asked a handful of swings to carry too much of the day. On this afternoon, persistence beat efficiency by one run.

Scoring moments

1. 4th Inning

   Ballesteros homered to center (407 feet).

2. 5th Inning

   Neto homered to center (440 feet).

3. 6th Inning

   Morales singled to center, Abrams scored.

4. 6th Inning

   House grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, Morales scored, Ruiz out at second, Lile to third.

5. 8th Inning

   Neto scored on Tolman wild pitch, Grissom to second on wild pitch by Tolman, Meckler to third on wild pitch by Tolman.

6. 8th Inning

   Neto scored on Tolman wild pitch, Grissom to second on wild pitch by Tolman, Meckler to third on wild pitch by Tolman.

7. 8th Inning

   Ballesteros hit sacrifice fly to right, Meckler scored, Grissom to third.

8. 8th Inning

   Lile tripled to right, Morales scored.

9. 8th Inning

   Vivas singled to left, Lile scored.

10. 8th Inning

    Young doubled to left, Vivas scored.

11. 8th Inning

    Crews singled to left, Young scored.

12. 9th Inning

    Moore grounded out to third, Lowe scored.