Davies earns 1st win in more than a year as Diamondbacks top Nationals
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Zach Davies earned his first victory in more than a year, Corbin Carroll homered and the NL West-leading Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Washington Nationals 6-2 on Wednesday night.
The surprising Diamondbacks have won eight of 10, share the National League lead in victories with Atlanta and hold a two-game advantage over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the division.
Davies (1-1) had not earned a win since May 13, 2022, going 24 consecutive starts without one. But the 30-year-old right-hander was largely in control against the struggling Nationals, allowing only three runners to get into scoring position over 6 2/3 innings in his third outing since returning from a strained left oblique,
“I hope, obviously, to stay healthy for the rest of the year,” Davies said. “That's always a No. 1 goal. But I want to feel like I'm contributing, too. I was out for seven or so weeks and you really miss baseball and miss competing, especially on a team like this that's fun to be a part of.”
Davies struck out eight while allowing five hits and a walk. He closed his night with back-to-back strikeouts of Riley Adams and CJ Abrams. Austin Adams entered and got Alex Call to ground out and strand a runner at first.
Davies earned his third victory since joining the Diamondbacks before last season — two of them at Washington.
“It was a very good outing for him in a lot of different ways,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “He kept the lead and just looked strong throughout. ... I've seen guys get on good runs like that after these types of outings.”
The Nationals have lost four in a row and seven of nine to fall to a season-high 11 games under .500.
“We have to start getting back to having better at-bats, going up there and extending at-bats and trying to beat the starter,” Washington manager Dave Martinez said.
Arizona's first two hitters reached against Patrick Corbin (4-6) before Emmanuel Rivera knocked both in with a double. Rivera came around two batters later on Evan Longoria's RBI double.
Despite getting 11 hits against Corbin, the Diamondbacks couldn't muster anything else against the veteran left-hander. Corbin struck out four in six innings. A two-time All-Star with Arizona, Corbin fell to 0-3 with an 11.42 ERA against his former team since signing with Washington after the 2018 season.
Longoria knocked in another run in the seventh on a double off reliever Carl Edwards Jr. Carroll hit a two-run shot off Jordan Weems in the ninth to cap the first four-hit game of his career. The rookie star was 4 for 5 with his 11th homer, two RBIs and 18th stolen base.
Washington scored twice in the third on Luis Garcia's RBI single and Jeimer Candelario's double-play grounder.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Diamondbacks: OF Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (right groin tightness) was out of the lineup for the third consecutive game, but took early batting practice.
Nationals: Washington recalled RHP Cory Abbott and designated RHP Erasmo Ramirez for assignment. Ramirez was 2-3 with a 6.33 ERA in 23 games and took the loss Tuesday against Arizona. ... RHP Andrés Machado cleared outright waivers and was assigned to Triple-A Rochester. Machado was designated for assignment Tuesday.
FOREIGN DIGNITARY
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak participated in the pregame lineup card exchange as part of the Nationals’ UK-US friendship celebration. Sunak’s two-day trip to Washington also includes a meeting Thursday with President Biden at the White House.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks: RHP Merrill Kelly (7-3, 2.80 ERA), who is 6-0 with a 2.44 ERA over his last seven starts, gets the nod in the finale of the three-game series.
Nationals: RHP Josiah Gray (4-5, 3.09) allowed three runs in five innings while taking a loss May 5 against the Diamondbacks in Phoenix.
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