Washington Nationals hang on for 7-6 win over Cincinnati Reds in series opener in D.C.

Erick Fedde put together another solid outing... after a shaky start to the game with a home run allowed on his first pitch, but he received plenty of support from his fellow Nationals as the home team took the series opener against the Cincinnati Reds in Washington, D.C., 7-6 final. It got iffy in the end, as you’ll see...

Fedde vs the Reds: Erick Fedde’s third outing in the majors as a starter this season was on the road in Great American Ball Park, where he gave up six hits, three walks, and two runs over four innings, throwing 85 pitches to the 21 batters he faced in a relatively brief outing.

“The more I see him, the more I see a kid that’s maturing as he’s up here,” Davey Martinez told reporters after that game.

Fedde gave up four hits and three walks in the first three innings, but managed to hold the Reds to one run early before giving up a second in the fourth.

“We had the runners on early, didn’t come up with the hits,” Reds’ skipper David Bell said in his post-game presser after that game.

“He made the pitches, however you want to look at it, and that was the difference, and he was able to settle down a little bit, but we did have the opportunities.”

Going up against the Reds for the second time this season, Fedde fell behind early, like the first pitch of the game early, when Jesse Winker hit a 92 MPH sinker outside out to left for a line drive, opposite field home run and a 1-0 Reds’ lead.

José Iglesias drove Tucker Barnhart in from first with an RBI double to center in the top of the second, after the Nationals jumped out to a 3-1 lead, and Fedde held the Reds to just the two runs through four, and took the mound with a 6-2 lead in the fifth after Trea Turner hit a three-run blast in the home-half of the fourth.

Fedde retired the Reds in order in a 14-pitch fifth inning which left him at 76 pitches, and he came back out for the sixth and worked around a one-out walk and single in a 26-pitch top of the inning that ended his outing...

Erick Fedde’s Line: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 Ks, 1 HR, 102 P, 61 S, 8/2 GO/FO.

DeSclafani vs the Nationals: In five starts out of the All-Star Break, Reds’ righty Anthony DeSclafani was (2-2) with a 4.00 ERA, eight walks, 30 strikeouts, and a .233/.286/.398 line against in 27 IP heading into tonight’s series opener with the Nats in the nation’s capital.

Given a 1-0 lead to work with before he took the mound, DeSclafani gave up a one-out walk to Adam Eaton and a two-out, two-run home run to center by Matt Adams, who hit a 2-2 slider out and over the fence to put the Nationals on top, 2-1. No. 18 of 2019 for Adams.

Asdrúbal Cabrera doubled to center in the at bat after Adams’ blast, on a liner that bounced off of Nick Senzel’s glove, and Gerardo Parra followed with an RBI single to make it 3-1 Nats.

It was a 3-2 game in the fourth when Victor Robles and Erick Fedde connected for back-to-back singles that set Trea Turner up with an RBI opportunity he cashed in with a three-run blast to left that put the Nationals up by four, 6-2. No. 11 for Turner.

Anthony DeSclafani’s Line: 4.0 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 3 Ks, 2 HRs, 83 P, 53 S, 5/2 GO/FO.

Turn-on: With a single in his first at bat on Sunday in Citi Field, Trea Turner (who went 1 for 5 overall in the finale with the Mets) extended his on-base streak to 19-straight games in which he was 26 for 79 (.329/.404/.506) with three doubles, a triple, three home runs, and 10 walks in 89 plate appearances.

Turner homered in the fourth to extend the on-base streak to 20 games in a row and put the Nats up 6-2 on the Reds.

BULLPEN ACTION: Kevin Gausman took over on the mound for the Reds in the bottom of the fifth and retired the Nationals in order, then worked around a leadoff single in the Nats’ half of the sixth.

Javy Guerra needed 21 pitches to get through the top of the seventh, stranding José Iglesias at third after a one-out triple.

Howie Kendrick doubled to center off Jared Hughes, and Trea Turner drove Kendrick in with a single in the bottom of the seventh, 7-2.

Tanner Rainey got the eighth for the Nationals, with a five-run lead, and gave up a two-out, two-run home run by Aristides Aquino, who crushed a 98 MPH 1-0 fastball, 7-4.

Hughes came back out in the bottom of the eighth and gave up a walk to Asdrúbal Cabrera, a double by Victor Robles, and a base-loading walk to pinch hitter Brian Dozier, but he got a groundout from Trea Turner to end the threat.

Sean Doolittle came on in the ninth looking for the save and gave up a leadoff home run on a first-pitch fastball to Phillip Ervin that was as right down the middle as you can throw one, 7-5. José Iglesias, 3 for 4, singled to right in the next at bat. Doolittle popped José Peraza up for out No. 2. Joey Votto stepped in (0 for 4 with a K vs Doo in their respective careers, and 1 for 2 with two walks tonight) and got up 3-1, before missing a fastball, 3-2, fouling off three fastballs, and doubling off the left field wall to make it a one-run game, 7-6. An intentional walk to Eugenio Suarez loaded the bases with two out, and Doolittle got a line drive to third baseman Anthony Rendon from Josh VanMeter to end the game. [wipes brow]. Ballgame. 7-6 final.

Nationals now 63-55