Major League Baseball
Seattle 4, Washington 2
When: 12:05 PM ET, Thursday, May 25, 2017
Where: Nationals Park, Washington, District of Columbia
Temperature: 67°
Umpires: Home - Adam Hamari, 1B - Bill Miller, 2B - Kerwin Danley, 3B - Todd Tichenor
Attendance: 18881

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Manager Scott Servais said adrenaline was running high for his team after the Seattle Mariners lost their fifth game in a row Wednesday night.

"Myself included," Servais said, with a smile, sitting at his desk in the visitors' clubhouse.

Servais, who was not happy about the effort of his club on Wednesday, was ejected in the top of the sixth inning on Thursday afternoon for complaining about a strike zone he called "very inconsistent."

But two batters later, Nelson Cruz hit a three-run homer to give Seattle a 3-2 lead and the last-place Mariners beat the first-place Washington Nationals 4-2 to prevent a three-game sweep.

"I thought our guys really responded to a disappointing effort last night," said Servais, who is in his second season as the Seattle skipper. "Our players responded. It was a total team effort."

Cruz was the first batter that right-handed reliever Jacob Turner faced after Washington starter Gio Gonzalez was lifted. Cruz was 1-for-15 against Gonzalez in his career but his homer against Turner helped snap the losing streak.

"I don't make the calls" on who pitches, Cruz said. "One swing can get you going. We needed the win."

Said Servais: "That is what Nelson Cruz does for our team. Nelson Cruz is our four-hole hitter. I don't worry about matchups."

It was another loss for the Washington bullpen, which entered the game with the highest ERA in the league.

Turner, also used as a starter this season, gave up four hits and two runs in one inning.

Meanwhile, Seattle starter Ariel Miranda lowered his ERA to 4.22 while allowing only three hits and two runs in five innings.

"The ball jumps out of his hand pretty good," said Washington second baseman Daniel Murphy, who was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.

It was the first win in nine tries for the Mariners in the nation's capital. The Mariners were swept in three-game sets in Washington in 2005 and 2011.

Anthony Rendon hit a solo homer to lead off the fifth and give the Nationals a 1-0 lead. Rendon (two hits) has homered in three straight games and had four homers in the series.

"He is getting really good pitches to hit," Murphy said of Rendon. "He is seeing the ball really well right now."

Later in the inning Jayson Werth made it 2-0 with an RBI single with two outs to score Jose Lobaton, who had doubled with one out.

But Cruz hit his three-run homer off Turner (2-3), making his first appearance since May 17, to give Seattle a 3-2 lead in the sixth. Robinson Cano (2-for-5) had an RBI single off reliever Matt Grace to build the Seattle lead to 4-2 in the seventh.

The Seattle bullpen of Tony Zych, James Pazos, Nick Vincent, Marc Rzepczynski and Edwin Diaz did not allow a run in four innings.

Diaz pitched the ninth for his eighth save and got the last out with a runner on base when pinch-hitter Matt Wieters was retired on a fly ball. Pinch-hitter Adam Lind had a single with two outs off Diaz.

"We had to go to our bullpen early," Servais said. "It is a cumulative effort. We like Edwin in that spot."

Gonzalez gave up three hits and two runs with four walks and eight strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. Jean Segura was 2-for-4 for Seattle.

"We want to play better than we have been," Servais said. "Hopefully we can build upon that."

NOTES: Seattle RHP Yovani Gallardo (2-4, 5.84 ERA) is slated to face Red Sox LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (3-1, 3.10 ERA) on Friday in Boston. ... Washington RHP Max Scherzer (4-3, 3.02 ERA) is scheduled to oppose San Diego RHP Luis Perdomo (0-1, 5.79 ERA) in the series opener Friday in Washington. ... Nationals manager Dusty Baker is slated to miss the three-game series in order to attend the high school graduation of his son, Darren, in California. Bench coach Chris Speier will fill in for Baker. ... Seattle third-base coach Manny Acta was the Washington manager from 2007-09. ... Washington has not been involved in a shutout this season, but the Nationals have limited opponents to one run in five games.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Seattle   Washington
Ariel Miranda Player Gio Gonzalez
Win W/L No Decision
5.0 IP 5.1
4 Strikeouts 8
3 Hits 3
3.60 ERA 3.38
Hitting
Seattle   Washington
Jean Segura Player Anthony Rendon
2 Hits 2
0 RBI 1
0 HR 1
2 TB 5
.500 Avg .500
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Seattle 9 1 13 .273 19 13 4 6 0 1
Washington 6 1 11 .182 10 7 2 3 0 0