Kansas City Royals rally in 9th, walk off on Washington Nationals, 7-6 on Lorenzo Cain single

Tanner Roark started the night with a streak of fifteen straight scoreless innings going, and the Washington Nationals had a streak of four straight wins on the line in the second game of three with the Royals in Kansas City.

Both streaks ended tonight...

Roark took mound in Kauffman Stadium with a 1-0 lead courtesy of a solo shot by Anthony Rendon, who hit an 89 mph 3-2 fastball from Chris Young out to left field for a no-doubter in the first, which was his first home run of the season.

Two walks in the third by Roark both came around to score, however, ending his scoreless innings streak at seventeen innings and putting the Royals ahead.

Roark put Omar Infante and Jarrod Dyson on with leadoff and one-out walks, respectively, and Alcides Escobar, who singled to left in the first, lined an opposite field single to right in the third to drive in Omar Infante and tie it up at 1-1.

A two-out, two-run single by Eric Hosmer brought the second walk and Escobar around to make it 3-1 Royals after three.

Daniel Murphy cut into the Royals' lead with a two-out solo home run to right in the fourth, when he hit an 88 mph 1-1 heater into the seats to make it 3-2 Kansas City.

Bryce Harper was 1 for 18 on the current road trip when he grounded into a force at second with the bases loaded in the fifth, after Luke Hochevar took over on the mound for Chris Young.

• Chris Young's Line: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 85 P, 50 S, 3/7 GO/FO.

Ryan Zimmerman singled to start the sixth, went first-to-third on a one-out single to center by Jayson Werth and scored on a fly to right by Wilson Ramos when Jarrod Dyson got twisted around and couldn't make a catch.

Ramos was credited with a ground-rule double when it bounced off the track and over the wall and Zimmerman scored to tie it up at 3-3. Werth took third on the misplay and scored on a groundout by Danny Espinosa, 4-3. Chris Heisey hit a triple to center in the next at bat to plate Ramos and make it a two-run lead, 5-3.

Jayson Werth crushed a 1-1 fastball from Dillon Gee and hit a leadoff home run to left-center in the top of the eighth to make it 6-3.

Alcides Escobar and Lorenzo Cain hit back-to-back, one-out singles in the eighth to finally knock Roark out of the game.

Felipe Rivero gave up a grounder up the middle by Eric Hosmer. Danny Espinosa almost turned a DP, but Hosmer beat the throw to first with a headfirst slide. Escobar scored on the play, 6-4 Nationals after eight.

Tanner Roark's Line: 7.1 IP,  6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 Ks, 101 P, 64 S, 11/1 GO/FO.

Jonathan Papelbon came on looking for save No. 10 of 2016 and gave up an infield single by Alex Gordon and a single to left by Salvador Perez.

Pinch runner Terrance Gore stole second, putting the tying run at second, but Omar Infante K'd swinging for the first out of the frame. Mike Moustakas came on as a pinch hitter and hit a two-run single up the middle to tie it up at 6-6.

Moustakas went first-to-third on a single to center by Alcides Escobar and scored on a walk-off hit by Lorenzo Cain. 7-6 Royals.

Nationals now 18-8

• NATS NOTES:

• Tanner Roark, tonight's starter for the Nationals, was one of three Nats' starters in the Top 10 in terms of ERA in the National League with his 2.03 ERA after five starts.
• Nationals' pitchers, as a staff, started the night with the Major League's lowest combined ERA (2.21).
• A win tonight would give the Nationals all three series played between themselves and the Royals since 2005.
• In today's Nationals-themed "Fun with Arbitrary End Points" segment, the Nationals' pitchers have an MLB-best 99 strikeouts ... since April 23rd.
• Nats' starters, last time through the rotation, went (4-1) with a 0.82 ERA as a staff.
• Royals' starter Chris Young gave up all six home runs he allowed this season before tonight on fastballs. Opposing htters had a .375 AVG vs his fastball before tonight. Anthony Rendon hit one out in the first tonight.
• In earning his 9th save of the season last night, Jonathan Papelbon tied Troy Percival for 10th all-time with 358 career saves.
• Daniel Murphy's 3-hit game in the series opener in Kansas City gave him 12 multi-hit games and he collected career hit No. 1,000 in Washington's win.
• The Nationals' win last night left them 10-3 away from D.C. this season, with the second-best road record in the majors, behind only the 11-3 Chicago Cubs that Washington plays next.
• Chris Heisey's RBI triple in the sixth was his first triple since 2014, when he was with the Reds.

Nationals now 18-8