Jorbit Vivas hit a tiebreaking two-run double to cap a three-run eighth inning as the Washington Nationals snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 4-3 comeback victory over the visiting Los Angeles Angels in the opener of a three-game series Friday night.
CJ Abrams had two hits and a run and James Wood went 1-for-3 with an RBI single and a walk for Washington (68-81). Clayton Beeter (6-5) tossed a scoreless eighth and Erik Tolman earned his second save despite allowing a run.
Mike Trout hit a home run and Christian Moore doubled and had two hits and two RBIs for Los Angeles (56-91), which finished with just four hits. Samy Natera Jr. (1-2) allowed three runs on three hits and a walk in one inning for the Angels, who had won their previous two games.
Los Angeles took a 1-0 lead in the first on Trout’s 21st home run, a 416-foot drive to left-center. It snapped a 27-game homerless drought, one shy of his career high. It was also his 425th homer, moving him past Edwin Encarnacion into 54th place on the all-time list.
Washington tied it in the fourth when Harry Ford walked, stole second and scored on Wood’s two-out single to left.
The Angels regained the lead in the seventh. Vaughn Grissom and Moises Ballesteros opened the inning with walks and Moore, after twice failing to move them along with a sacrifice bunt, singled to left on a 3-2 pitch to drive in Grissom for a 2-1 lead.
The Nationals parlayed a leadoff walk by Brady House with three hits and a sacrifice fly to score three times in the eighth to go ahead 4-2.
House correctly challenged a strike three call and worked a walk to open the inning. Abrams followed with a single, then Dylan Crews loaded the bases with a perfect bunt single up the third base line. After House was thrown out at home on a grounder hit by Yohandy Morales, pinch hitter Andrew Pinckney tied it at 2-2 with a sacrifice fly. After Morales stole second, Vivas followed with a two-run double into the right field corner to give the Nationals their first lead.
The Angels came within about five feet of tying the game in the ninth when Moore drilled a two-out double off the top of the fence in right-center, driving in Oswald Peraza, who had walked. Tolman then got pinch hitter Kyren Paris to fly out to left to end the game.
