Jake Irvin pitches 6 solid innings as Nationals beat Rays 8-1 to snap 4-game slide

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Jake Irvin pitched six efficient innings, CJ Abrams hit a leadoff home run and the Washington Nationals beat the Tampa Bay Rays 8-1 on Saturday, ending a streak of four consecutive defeats.

Irvin (6-6) allowed one hit — Brandon Lowe’s homer in the first inning — struck out five and walked three. The right-hander has allowed two earned runs or fewer in 12 of his last 15 starts.

“Talk about it a lot, but just trying to keep us in games and consistency is part of it,” Irvin said. “If I can keep us in this race every five days, putting us in contention for wins, that’s my job and I’m happy with the results.”

Irvin has pitched six innings in six of his last seven starts.

“He was tough,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “We couldn’t get anything from him. »

Derek Law, Hunter Harvey and Kyle Finnegan each had three outs for the Nationals, completing a two-hitter.

Abrams connected for his third leadoff homer this season. He also had an RBI double against Shawn Armstrong during Washington’s six-run seventh.

Harold Ramírez, released by Tampa Bay on June 13 and signed with Washington two days later, hit a two-run triple in the seventh in his first game against his former team. It was his first triple since Aug. 14 and his seventh overall in 515 career games.

The Rays fell back below .500 at 41-42. Tampa Bay hasn’t been above .500 since May 21.

Yandy Díaz went 0 for 4, ending his Tampa Bay record 20-game hitting streak. He hit a 109 mph liner to the front row in the eighth.

The Nationals took a 2-1 lead in the fourth thanks to a nifty field goal by Luis García Jr. He rushed home on a wild pitch from Aaron Civale (2-6) that ended up in front of home plate .

“It was awesome,” Washington manager Dave Martinez said. “He took the edge off a good secondary and made the break right away. It was a big play for us.”

Just after hitting what should have been a catchable foul ball that got stuck on an overhanging catwalk, Lowe tied the score at 1 with his sixth home run. He had been limited to one at-bat as a backup hitter since breaking his right toe on June 22.

Civale extended his winless streak to 14. The right-hander issued four walks while allowing two runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings.

“I felt like he had to survive this outing,” Cash said. “He probably didn’t have his best stuff.”

TRAINERS ROOM

Nationals: OF Jesse Winker, who left Friday’s game in the first inning after injuring his knee when he tripped and fell hard to the ground while making a catch, started and hit an RBI single in the seventh.

FOLLOWING

Nationals LHP Patrick Corbin (1-7, 5.46 ERA) and Rays RHP Taj Bradley (2-4, 3.81 ERA) are Sunday’s starters.

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