WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Call had a two-run double in Washington's four-run second inning and the Nationals held off the San Diego Padres 5-3 on Wednesday night.
Call also singled to help the rebuilding Nationals improve to 11-11 in May and 21-28 overall.
“We're showing up to the ballpark playing with a lot of energy,” Nationals manager Davey Martinez said. "That's been the key for these guys. They're starting to feel like they can compete."
Washington starter Trevor Williams (2-2) went 5 2/3 innings. Carl Edwards Jr. and Hunter Harvey combined for 2 1/3 scoreless innings and Kyle Finnegan worked a perfect ninth for his 10th save. They held the Padres to four hits.
“Shut down,” Call said about the bullpen effort. “It's nice to see our guys taking care of business.”
Keibert Ruiz singled in the first run in the second, and Luis Garcia had a sacrifice fly to close the scoring spree.
San Diego’s Rougned Odor hit in two-run homer in the fourth, and Washington made it 5-2 in the bottom of the inning when Lane Thomas doubled in Call. Ha-Seong Kim hit a solo homer off Williams in the fifth.
“It's a game of execution, and the two homers today were not executed,” Williams said. “Thankfully, the offense gave us enough runs today to make it not hurt. And the bullpen shut the door when they came in.”
Ryan Weathers (1-3) went six innings for San Diego.
“He gave us six innings. I thought he pitched fairly well,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said. “When you get four hits, it's tough to win a game.”
