PHOENIX (AP) — The hapless Washington Nationals made three errors in the field, a mental mistake on defense and a few baserunning miscues that nixed some great scoring opportunities.
They won anyway.
Wins haven’t come easy for the Nationals this season, so they’ll certainly take the 4-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday. It was just their third win in the past 20 games.
“It hasn’t been going our way lately,” reliever Kyle Finnegan said. “To get a win like that, where we fight until the last out, great game by both sides, that’s what it’s about.”
Keibert Ruiz had three hits, including a go-ahead single in the eighth inning, as Washington avoided a three-game sweep.
The Nationals were sloppy in the field with their three errors and a couple other questionable decisions. Despite those problems, they stayed close and tied the game 3-all on Josh Bell’s RBI double in the seventh.
Washington kept hitting in the eighth. Pinch-hitter Lane Thomas led off the inning with a double against All-Star left-hander Joe Mantiply (1-3), and Ruiz brought him home with a line-drive single to right field for a 4-3 advantage.
“I wasn’t trying to do too much,” Ruiz said. “That’s the key.”
Washington’s bullpen got out of a bases-loaded, no-outs jam in the eighth. Steve Cishek got Ketel Marte to pop up for the first out and then Finnegan coaxed a double-play grounder from Christian Walker to end the inning.
Arizona left 13 runners on base.
“We couldn’t get a big hit when we needed, or make a big pitch, or do the right things at the right time to create some space as far as the score goes,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “I felt like we did a lot right in this game with the exception of score runs.”
Finnegan also worked a scoreless…