HOUSTON — Lane Thomas and Keibert Ruiz each hit an RBI single in a three-run 10th inning that propelled the Washington Nationals past the Houston Astros 4-1 on Thursday night to prevent a three-game sweep.
Ruiz homered off Houston closer Ryan Pressly leading off the ninth to break a scoreless tie, but pinch-hitter Yainer Diaz tied it in the bottom half with a two-out RBI single against winner Hunter Harvey (3-3).
Thomas gave Washington a 2-1 lead with a one-out single off Phil Maton (0-2) in the 10th. Luis García singled and Jeimer Candelario was hit by a pitch before Corey Dickerson drew a bases-loaded walk.
Ruiz hit a blooper to left for his RBI single, but Matt Gage struck out Dominic Smith and Stone Garrett to leave the bases loaded.
Carl Edwards Jr. threw a scoreless inning for his second save.
Ruiz homered to right field on a 2-2 pitch from Pressly. Kyle Tucker doubled leading off the bottom half and scored on Diaz’s single up the middle.
MacKenzie Gore yielded four hits in 5 2/3 shutout innings for the last-place Nationals. He struck out four and walked three. It was his second scoreless start of the season.
Mason Thompson tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief.
Ruiz finished with three hits, and Washington snapped an eight-game losing steak in games started by Gore.
Cristian Javier fired six scoreless innings for Houston, scattering five hits and walking none. The right-hander has allowed one run or fewer in five of his last six starts.
Javier retired 13 of 14 batters during one stretch. He got 15 of his 18 outs on flyouts or popups for the defending World Series champions.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Astros: SS Jeremy Peña returned to the lineup after missing the previous three games with an undisclosed illness. He went 1 for 4.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Astros manager Dusty Baker celebrated his 74th birthday. Smith turned 28.
TIMER VIOLATION
Dickerson was called for a pitch-clock violation in the fourth, resulting in strike two. He ended up hitting a single on the 10th pitch of the at-bat.
UP NEXT
Nationals: RHP Trevor Williams (3-4, 4.11 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday night at home against Miami RHP Sandy Alcantara (2-5, 4.75) in the opener of a three-game series.
Astros: Houston begins a three-game series against Cincinnati on Friday, but the Astros had not announced their rotation yet.
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