Chase DeLauter drove in the go-ahead run in the fifth inning and Gavin Williams moved into a tie for the major league lead in wins as the Cleveland Guardians beat the visiting Washington Nationals 3-2 on Wednesday afternoon.
DeLauter singled home fellow rookie Travis Bazzana in a three-run fifth for the American League Central leaders, who avoided a three-game sweep.
Williams (8-3) worked seven strong innings, allowing one run on three hits with two walks in pulling even with Aaron Ashby of the Milwaukee Brewers for the most wins in MLB.
The right-hander struck out four, keeping him second in the AL in the category with 88, and lowered his ERA to 3.07.
Tim Herrin pitched a clean eighth and Cade Smith earned his MLB-leading 19th save despite allowing a ninth-inning sacrifice fly to Daylen Lile that scored Curtis Mead.
CJ Abrams doubled in James Wood in the first for the Nationals, who won the first two games of the interleague set by a combined 16-5 margin. It was Wood’s 50th run, which leads the majors.
Miles Mikolas (1-4) did not allow an earned run in 3 2/3 innings, but took the loss due to Mead’s error that led to two unearned runs. The righty struck out one and gave up five hits as the primary pitcher for Washington.
Nationals manager Blake Butera used PJ Poulin as an opener for one inning. He didn’t allow a hit.
Washington brought a 1-0 lead into the fifth before Jose Ramirez had a tying sacrifice fly to score Austin Hedges, who reached on a fielding miscue by second baseman Mead.
Mikolas was lifted with Bazzana on second, and DeLauter greeted Richard Lovelady with a hit to left. After a Kyle Manzardo single, Angel Martinez singled in DeLauter.
Nationals leadoff hitter Wood went 1-for-3 and walked once, completing the series 8-for-12 with two homers, three RBIs and five runs.
