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The Washington Nationals were well on their way to their fourth straight loss coming off a three-game sweep at the hands of the Oakland A's, when Nats' second baseman Danny Espinosa and left fielder Kevin Frandsen struck in the ninth, taking Arizona Diamondbacks' closer Addison Reed deep for home runs that tied the first game of three in Arizona up and broke the tie, respectively.
"Very seldom are you going to hit two HRs in an inning to win a game. That's not going to happen very often..."- #Nats' Matt Williams - 4/23
— federalbaseball (@federalbaseball) May 13, 2014
Espinosa's home run was the 26-year-old infielder's sixth of the season in 36 games and 123 plate appearances, over which he has a .243/.285/.461 line.
The six home runs are more than Espinosa hit in 480 PAs between the majors and Triple-A Syracuse last season.
Kevin Frandsen's home run was his first this season.
Through 30 games and 67 plate appearances, the right-handed hitting bench bat has a .267/.333/.367 line.
As Nats' skipper Matt Williams told reporters after last night's 6-5 win, the 31-year-old bench bat and backup outfielder continues to make his case for more playing time every time he gets an opportunity.
"He continues to hit and he continues to do things well on the field and forces his way into the lineup," Williams said. "He's been doing that a long time."
Frandsen's starting tonight in Arizona after coming off the bench to hit a pinch hit homer last night:
#Nats lineup @ #DBacks: Span CF, Rendon 3B, Werth RF, Ramos C, Desmond SS, Espinosa 2B, Moore 1B, Frandsen LF, Strasburg P
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) May 13, 2014
While you're waiting for the start of tonight's 9:40 matchup in Chase Field, here's some Nationals-related reading.
Washington Post writer Thomas Boswell on Matt Williams' first month-plus:
My col:Nats' Matt Williams wanted to find out about managing in the big leagues, but maybe not quite this fast. http://t.co/tbdFnhqLt7
— Thomas Boswell (@ThomasBoswellWP) May 13, 2014
FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal on the 2010 deal that landed Tanner Roark:
Also in notes: An update on what #Astros offered Springer, how #Nationals got Roark, mystery of the #Royals. http://t.co/kz3rj8bRXf
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) May 13, 2014
• While you're at it, why not give the latest edition of Nats Nightly a listen: