Washington rallied from an early 5-0 deficit, then had to hold on for a 10-9 win at Cincinnati, salvaging the finale of the three-game road series.
The Nationals (34-23) scored five in the fourth, with back-to-back homers by Daniel Murphy (10) and Wilson Ramos (8) keying the rally.
After the Nats put up three more in the fifth, Murphy and Ramos recorded back-to-back RBI singles in the sixth to put Washington on top, 10-5.
A three-run Jay Bruce homer (13) in the seventh cut the deficit to 10-8, and a Brandon Phillips RBI double in the ninth got the Reds (21-36) within one. Cincy actually loaded the bases with none out after closer Jonathan Papelbon intentionally walked Bruce following the Phillips knock, but Papelbon got Adam Duvall to pop out, struck out Zack Cozart for the second out and then induced a game-ending fly ball to center from Ivan De Jesus to end it.
Starter Tanner Roark (4-4, 3.21 ERA) was lifted after giving up five runs on seven hits in three innings of work.
Reliever Sammy Solis (1-1, 1.59 ERA) got the win in relief, giving up a hit in three scoreless innings of relief, striking out six and walking one.
Bryce Harper was 3-for-5 at the plate to break out of his extended slump. Murphy and Ramos also had three hits each, pushing Murphy’s batting average to .384 and Ramos’ average to .350.
Washington has a two-game lead in the NL East over the New York Mets (31-24).
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Chris Graham
