The Sports Xchange
May 23, 2017
WASHINGTON -- Anthony Rendon was 3-for-4 with two homers, a double and five RBIs, and Joe Ross came up from Triple-A to allow one run in eight innings as the Washington Nationals blasted the Seattle Mariners 10-1 on Tuesday.
Ross (2-0) entered the game with a 7.47 ERA in the majors this year. He made three starts earlier this month in the minors.
The right-hander allowed just five hits and struck out six with no walks against Seattle while matching the longest outing of his career.
Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper also homered for the Nationals, who got at least one hit from every starter.
Seattle's Mike Zunino, just called up from Triple-A Tacoma, hit a solo homer off Ross in the sixth after Washington built a 10-1 lead.
Ryan Zimmerman had three hits for Washington, and Trea Turner and Michael A. Taylor added two each.
Jean Segura and Kyle Seager had two hits apiece for Seattle. Mariners starter Christian Bergman (1-2) was tagged for 10 runs and 14 hits in four innings.
In the first game of the interleague series Washington improved to 27-17 while Seattle fell to 20-26 with its fourth loss in a row. Matt Grace pitched the ninth for Washington.
The Nationals broke the game open with eight runs in the fourth after Rendon hit a two-run homer in the second. Rendon hit two homers off starter Bergman and Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper also went deep against the beleaguered hurler, whose ERA jumped from 2.25 to 6.30.
Rendon hit his sixth homer of the year, a two-run shot, with one out in the second to give the Nationals a 2-0 lead. His homer also scored Zimmerman, who led off with a single as a light rain fell at Nationals Park.
The field got very wet after three innings and Robinson Cano, who just came off the disabled list, just jogged to first base when he grounded out to short to end the top of the fourth.
The Nationals scored eight runs on a team-record nine hits in the fourth as Matt Wieters had an RBI single, Turner drove in a run with a triple, Werth hit a two-run homer, Harper followed with a solo shot and Rendon hit a three-run homer to make it 10-0. Rendon had three homers and 10 RBIs at home against the New York Mets on April 30.
NOTES: Seattle 2B Robinson Cano (right quad strain) came off the 10-day disabled list before the game. The Mariners had already cleared a roster spot for him with a flurry of moves Monday ... Washington RHP Joe Ross, promoted from Triple-A Syracuse, made his first major league start since April 30, when he gave up five runs to the New York Mets. Nationals OF Brian Goodwin was sent to Syracuse to make room for Ross on the roster ... Seattle made its first visit to Washington since 2011. The Mariners are now 0-7 lifetime in the nation's capital ... Washington RHP Tanner Roark (3-2, 4.73) will face Seattle RHP Sam Gaviglio (0-0, 1.29) on Wednesday.