Nick Lodolo pitched his first complete game with eight strikeouts, Nick Fraley and Santiago Espinal each had two hits and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Washington Nationals 5-0 on Wednesday.
Lodolo (8-6) allowed four hits with no walks. The 27-year-old left-hander made his 21st start of the season and has 1241/3 innings pitched, a single-season career best.
Noelvi Marte hit an RBI double and Jose Trevino’s sacrifice fly drove in Jake Fraley in the eighth inning. Matt McLain and Elly De La Cruz each had an RBI in the ninth to cap the scoring.
De La Cruz drew a leadoff walk in the fourth, stole second base and scored on a single by Jake Fraley off starter Michael Soroka (3-8) to give the Reds a 1-0 lead.
“I know the score ended up 5-0. That wasn’t a 5-0 game, that was 1-0, (Lodolo) had to pitch through that for the majority of the game,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “I thought as the game went he got stronger, which is a really good sign. You know, his breaking ball has been a weapon. And as he holds his velocity the entire game he threw strikes. He just really pitched a great game.”
It was the first time in Lodolo’s 68 career starts that the 27-year-old left-hander pitched into the ninth inning, and the first time he went at least seven innings in back-to-back starts. It was his second career complete game, but the other was a rain-shortened 4-2 win in six innings over Minnesota on June 18.
“I got the rainout CG, but now I got a real one,” Lodolo said. “It’s pretty cool. I feel like I had everything kind of working for the most part. Good defense, I got some early outs that helped me stay in the game that long.”
The Nationals had their five-game home win streak against Cincinnati snapped.
Jackson Rutledge replaced Konnor Pilkington with one out in the eighth and gave up back-to-back singles to Austin Hays and Fraley before Marte doubled to left field and Trevino’s sac fly made it 3-0.
The eighth inning ended on Nationals center fielder Jacob Young’s inning-ending leaping catch at the wall to take a homer away from Will Benson.
The Reds, who lost the first two games of the series, avoided being swept for the first time this season.
Cincinnati set a franchise record with 33 straight series without being swept, breaking the mark of 32 set by the 1970 Reds, who went on to win the National League pennant.
Cincinnati’s Nick Martinez (8-9, 4.73 ERA) is scheduled to pitch Friday in the opener of a three-game series against Tampa Bay. The Rays haven’t yet announced their starter.
Washington’s MacKenzie Gore (4-9, 3.59) takes the mound Friday against Minnesota’s Zebby Matthews (1-2, 6.26) to kick off a three-game set.
Gore, 26, has been the subject of trade speculation ahead of next week’s deadline. The 28-year-old is seen as a logical addition for playoff-bound squads in need of starting pitching.
He has 140 strikeouts in 112 ⅔ innings this season and is not eligible to hit free agency until after the 2028 season.
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