Rendon hits grand slam, Nationals hold off Reds for 10-7 win
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Anthony Rendon hit his second career grand slam and added a two-run homer, and the Washington Nationals overcame Scooter Gennett's four-RBI night to hold on for a 10-7 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday night.
Ryan Raburn homered to lead off the seventh, sparking a seven-run outburst capped by Rendon's grand slam for his 18th homer of the season and a 10-0 lead.
The Reds bounced back for two runs in the eighth inning and five in the ninth, three on Gennett's 16th homer of the season, before Matt Grace logged his second save in two nights.
Washington's Max Scherzer (11-5), the National League's strikeout leader, escaped trouble in the first and third innings. He allowed the first two batters to reach in both before getting the next three batters each time, striking out all three in the first and two out of three in the third.
Scherzer finished with 10 strikeouts, his 12th game of the season and 61st of his career with at least 10. He issued a season-high four walks while allowing three hits, retiring seven of the last eight batters he faced to improve to 4-0 over his last six starts.
Bryce Harper had two hits, including a run-scoring single, to extend his hitting streak to 10 games.
Reds right-hander Luis Castillo didn't allow a hit until Harper singled with one out in the fourth inning and scored from first on Daniel Murphy's two-out double off the left-center field wall. Rendon, who had 10 RBIs on April 30 against the Mets, followed with his 17th homer. Those were the only hits Castillo (1-2) allowed in six innings. He finished with four walks and six strikeouts.
The Reds took advantage of Austin Adams' eighth-inning control problems in his major league debut to snap their streak of consecutive scoreless innings at 19. Adams walked two batters, one with the bases loaded, hit a third and threw a wild pitch while not recording an out.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Nationals: RHP Joe Ross will undergo Tommy John surgery on Wednesday and miss the rest of the season.
UP NEXT
Nationals: RHP Tanner Roark (6-6) was the losing pitcher in Cincinnati's 6-2 win at Washington on June 25.
Reds: RHP Homer Bailey was rocked for six hits and eight runs in 1 2/3 innings of what eventually turned into an 18-3 Cincinnati loss in his 2017 debut on June 24 at Washington.
