Jake Lamb and Chris Herrmann homered off Tanner Roark, and the Arizona Diamondbacks bounced back from an early deficit to beat the high-scoring Washington Nationals 6-3 on Tuesday night.
Erratic starter Taijuan Walker and four relievers combined to blank the potent Washington offense over the final six innings after the Nationals bolted to a 3-1 lead.
Two days after scoring 23 runs against the Mets to cap a record-setting month, Washington went 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10.
Lamb and Herrmann connected in the fourth inning to put Arizona up 4-3, and Jeremy Hazelbaker added a solo shot in the ninth.
Walker needed 117 pitches to get 11 outs and was pulled with two outs in the fifth. He gave up three runs, walked five and struck out six.
T.J. McFarland (1-0) got four straight outs, J.J. Hoover and Jorge De La Rosa each pitched an inning, and Fernando Rodney worked a perfect ninth for his seventh save.
Ryan Zimmerman had two hits for the Nationals, his career-high fifth straight multihit game. But Washington’s offense sputtered after becoming the first team in baseball history to score at least 14 runs five times in April.
Roark (3-1) struck out eight over six innings for the Nationals, but threw a career-high 125 pitches and left with Washington trailing 4-3.
Arizona’s Paul Goldschmidt and Washington’s Bryce Harper each had RBI singles in the first inning, and Daniel Murphy singled in two runs in the bottom of the third.
Lamb led off the fourth with a drive to right, Brandon Drury got an infield hit and Herrmann homered to put the Diamondbacks up for good.
Goldschmidt had his run of 25 straight stolen bases end when Jose Lobaton threw him out at second base in the first inning. It was the second-longest streak in club history behind Eric Byrnes (30).
Rodney became a U.S. citizen on Tuesday, announcing the news with a smile and a tweet.
The 40-year-old Rodney was born in the Dominican Republic and has been pitching in the big leagues since 2002 with Detroit.
His tweet said: “I’m officially a US citizen. God bless America & Thank you for the opportunity. Hijo de Republica Dominicana.”
Diamondbacks outfielder David Peralta wasn’t in the starting lineup because he was “a little under the weather,” according to manager Torrey Lovullo.
Nationals infielder Stephen Drew (hamstring) is moving closer to a rehab assignment. “He’s been very chipper,” manager Dusty Baker said.
Diamondbacks lefty Robbie Ray (2-1 3.56 ERA) starts Wednesday night. He’s 0-2 with an 8.44 ERA in two lifetime starts against Washington.
Making his sixth start of the season, Gio Gonzalez (3-0, 1.62 ERA) is 34-20 with a 3.20 ERA when pitching in Nationals Park.
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