White Sox 7 - 8 Nationals
Final
  for this game

Power surge leads Nationals past White Sox

Apr 10, 2013 - 4:35 AM Washington, DC (Sports Network) - Adam LaRoche clubbed a pair of homers and drove in three runs, while Jayson Werth added a homer and three RBI to lead the Washington Nationals to an 8-7 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday.

Ian Desmond added a solo homer and Ryan Zimmerman drove in a run and scored once for the Nationals, who have won two of their last three.

Washington starter Gio Gonzalez allowed just one run on four hits while striking out seven over five frames. Craig Stammen (2-0) earned the win despite allowing one run on three hits in the sixth.

Rafael Soriano gave up a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth, but was able to retire the final batter to pick up his third save of the season.

"It was good, it was a big win. We had some tough ones in Cincinnati, so to bounce back here at home and get one was nice," LaRoche said.

Paul Konerko went 1-for-2 with a homer and four RBI for the White Sox, who had won back-to-back games entering the contest. Alex Rios added a two-run homer and Alejandro De Aza went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and scored twice.

Rios also finished with three hits in the loss.

Jake Peavy (1-1) allowed six runs on nine hits while striking out seven over 5 1/3 innings for Chicago.

"Peavy looked good, but going through their lineup, they're tough," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "It takes a lot out of you to go through that. They had a lot of good at bats. It was just one of those things, they just finally got after him."

With the bases loaded and two outs in the first inning, Gonzalez was called for a balk on a 3-2 count to force home a run.

Washington tied the game in the fourth inning following a Zimmerman sacrifice fly. Denard Span opened the inning with a single and moved to third on a Bryce Harper base hit. Zimmerman then lifted a fly ball to deep right field to score Span without a throw.

Desmond led the fifth inning off with a homer to give the Nationals a 2-1 edge, but Chicago pushed one across in the sixth to tie the game once again.

Alex Rios opened the sixth with a single to center. He then stole second and moved to third after Wilson Ramos' throw bounced off Rios' head and into right field. Konerko followed with a sacrifice fly to center.

Washington broke the game open in the sixth, plating four runs on a pair of two-run homers to take a 6-2 advantage. Span hit a leadoff double and Werth followed with a tape-measure shot deep into the seats in left field.

Werth narrowly missed a homer earlier in the game, sending one deep to center that was caught on the warning track, but jumped on a first-pitch fastball and left no doubt, depositing the ball several rows into the left field stands.

Two batter later, Zimmerman walked and LaRoche followed with a shot to center field, his first of the season, to give the hosts a four-run edge.

Konerko's three-run blast in the seventh pulled Chicago within 6-5. Reliever Tyler Clippard struck out the first hitter, but walked De Aza before Jeff Keppinger singled to put two runners on. Rios popped out to LaRoche, but Konerko followed with his first long ball of the season to make it 6-5.

With runners on the corners and one out in the seventh, Werth smoked a base hit to left field to give the Nationals a 7-5 edge.

LaRoche clubbed a solo homer in the eighth, and Rios belted a two-run homer in the ninth to account for the final margin.

With one on and two outs in the ninth, Rios crushed a two-run homer to left field to make it 8-7, but Soriano was able to get Konerko to fly out to end the game.

Game Notes

LaRoche has 20 multi-homer games ... Washington has clubbed 14 home runs over its first seven games ... Ramos and Harper both went 2-for-4 ... The Nationals were 2-for-4 with runners in scoring position ... Rios has homered in four straight games ... The White Sox were just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.






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