Paul DeJong had a pair of doubles and an RBI and the host Washington Nationals held off the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-4 to win their first series of the season in the final of a three-game set Sunday.
DeJong doubled and scored on CJ Abrams’ sacrifice fly in the second inning for a 3-2 lead that the Nationals never lost, and he doubled in a run for a 4-2 lead in the third to help Trevor Williams (1-0) to his first victory.
Alex Call and Dylan Crews had two hits apiece for the Nationals, who won the final two games of the series after losing their previous four.
Corbin Carroll had three hits, Jose Herrera had two hits including a homer, and Pavin Smith had two hits and an RBI for the Diamondbacks, who have lost three of four after opening a six-game trip with consecutive victories over the New York Yankees.
Kyle Finnegan gave up a one-out double to Carroll in the ninth inning but retired the next two on groundouts for his third save, his second in as many games.
The Diamondbacks appealed the final out, a grounder to shortstop Abrams, but first baseman Nathaniel Lowe was ruled to have kept his foot on the bag after a stretch.
Williams gave up three runs and five hits in five innings, extending his streak to 17 consecutive starts of three earned runs or fewer. He struck out six and walked two.
Corbin Burnes (0-1) gave up seven hits and four runs in five innings, with three strikeouts and four walks. He has 11 strikeouts and seven walks in 9 1/3 innings in his first two Arizona starts after signing a six-year, $210 million free agent contract in the offseason.
Carroll tripled to open the game and scored on Geraldo Perdomo’s sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead before the Nationals scored two in their half of the first. Perdomo has 12 RBIs.
Lowe doubled in Abrams, who walked to open the Washington first inning before Luis Garcia Jr. singled. After another walk, Call’s two-out single drove in Garcia, but Lowe was thrown out trying to score by right fielder Carroll.
Herrera’s first homer of the season tied it at 2-2 in the second, but DeJong accounted for the next two runs as Washington took a 4-2 lead.
Smith’s RBI single in the fifth made it 4-3. Keibert Ruiz singled Cruz in the sixth before Alek Thomas’ two-out triple drove in Josh Naylor to close it to 5-4 in the eighth.
