It seemed like Gerardo Parra hadn’t had a hit in a month. The emotional center of the Washington Nationals needed the breakout four-RBI night that he had in an 8-2 win over the Cleveland Indians on Friday night.
Parra actually had recorded a hit in September: for the record, he was 2-for-26 in the month coming into Friday night.
A Parra two-run double in the second got the Nats (91-69) on the board, and then the “Baby Shark” broke a 2-2 tie with a sixth-inning sac fly.
He then added a homer to right-center in the eighth to cap a 3-for-3 night at the plate.
Austin Voth (2-1, 3.30 ERA) got the win, giving up two runs on two hits in six innings, striking out five and walking none.
The loss eliminated Cleveland (93-67) from AL wild-card contention.
The big news after the game is that Nats manager Davey Martinez announced Max Scherzer (11-7, 2.92 ERA) as the starter for the Tuesday, Oct. 1 NL wild-card game.
Story by Chris Graham