Juan Soto and Howie Kendrick hit first-inning home runs, Matt Adams and Kurt Suzuki connected in the seventh, and the Washington Nationals beat the San Francisco Giants 9-6 on Wednesday night.
Soto’s two-run drive, Kendrick’s solo shot and an RBI single by Adam Eaton put Washington ahead 4-0 against Jeff Samardzija (1-1) in the second.
Facing rookie Travis Bergen in the seventh, Adams delivered a three-run homer and Suzuki followed a single by Kendrick with a liner inside the left-field foul pole for a 9-2 lead.
Gerardo Parra and Steven Duggar each hit two-run homers in the ninth for San Francisco off rookie Austen Williams.
Jeremy Hellickson (2-0) allowed two runs and five hits over 5 2/3 innings for the Nationals. It was the 11th straight appearance in which he limited the opposition to three earned runs or fewer.
Samardzija struck out seven in five innings but gave up four runs and five hits. The right-hander has lost seven straight starts against the Nationals since beating them in August 2013 as a member of the Chicago Cubs.
In this one, two of the first five batters he faced went deep. Soto connected after Eaton drew a leadoff walk, and Kendrick hit a two-out drive to left.
San Francisco closed to 4-2 in the fourth. After Brandon Crawford drove in a run with a grounder and Evan Longoria hit an RBI single, an intentional walk put two on with two outs for Samardzija, who bounced out meekly to second base.
STREAKS
Washington’s Anthony Rendon hit a two-out single in the eighth to extend his career-high hitting streak to 15 games. … San Francisco C Buster Posey extended his homerless streak to 228 at-bats, the longest run of his career. … Giants 2B Joe Panik extended his career-long homerless run to 231 at-bats.
BLANK FEELING
The Giants have not scored a first-inning run in any of their 19 games. San Francisco has been outscored 11-0 in the first.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Nationals: 2B Brian Dozier was held from the starting lineup after fouling a ball off his toe on Tuesday night. “He had to get in drained yesterday, so I assumed he was going to be sore,” manager Dave Martinez said. Dozier entered as a defensive replacement in the eighth. … SS Trea Turner is staying active while waiting for his broken index finger to heal. “He’s keeping his legs in shape, doing everything he can without using that index finger,” Martinez said.
UP NEXT
Giants: LHP Drew Pomeranz (0-1, 3.86 ERA) makes his 200th career appearance on Thursday afternoon in the series finale. He’s 2-0 in two lifetime starts against the Nationals but hasn’t pitched in D.C. since 2012.
Nationals: LHP Patrick Corbin (0-0, 2.84) seeks his first win with Washington. He’s 4-1 in his last seven starts vs. S.F.
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