Photo credit: @Athletics

By: Mary Anne

The Oakland Athletics and Washington Nationals started this weekend with a three-game series at Nationals Park. The A’s lost 8-2 to the Nationals in their series opener on Friday. Oakland fell to 33-83, while Washington improved to 51-66.

The A’s starting lineup consisted of Esteury Ruiz, JJ Bleday, Zack Gelof, Seth Brown, Jordan Diaz, Tyler Soderstrom, Shea Langaliers, Lawrence Butler, Nick Allen, and Paul Blackburn. Blackburn (2-3, 4.52 ERA) took the loss after pitching 5 2/3 innings and giving up eight hits, four earned runs, four walks, and three strikeouts.

The A’s quickly got on the board with two runs in the top of the first inning. Jordan Diaz singled on a line drive to Stone Garett. JJ Bleday and Zack Gelof scored for a 2-0 lead.

The Nationals cut the A’s lead in half and tied the score in the bottom of the second inning. Ildemaro Vargas singled on a ground ball to Lawrence Butler. Keibert Ruiz scored to cut the A’s lead to 2-1 as Dominic Smith went to third base. Stone Garrett singled on a ground ball to Butler. Smith scored to tie the game 2-2 as Vargas went to second base.

The Nationals took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning. Jake Alu was out on a sacrifice fly to JJ Bleday. Ildemaro Vargas scored for a 3-2 lead with two outs.

The Nationals extended their lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. Keibert Ruiz homered on a fly ball to right center field for a 4-2 lead.

The Nationals expanded their lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. Ildemaro Vargas homered on a fly ball to left center field. Lane Thomas and Keibert Ruiz scored for a commanding 7-2 lead.

The Nationals added to their lead in the bottom of the eighth inning. Jake Alu homered on a fly ball to right center field for an 8-2 lead.

Notes
The A’s recalled Lawrence Butler from Triple-A Las Vegas, placing Tony Kemp on the paternity leave list on Friday.

On Thursday, Zack Gelof became the fastest to reach six home runs in A’s history.

Up Next
The A’s and Nationals will continue their series on Saturday at 4:05 pm Pacific.