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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Trevor Williams escaped two bases-loaded, none-out jams while pitching five scoreless innings, four relievers finished off Washington’s shutout and Alex Call singled home the game’s only run as the Nationals beat the Texas Rangers 1-0 on Wednesday night.
Washington (15-15) recorded its third shutout of the season, all since April 17, and has a chance to move above .500 for the first time since July 1, 2021.
After allowing three consecutive singles to open Texas’ second inning, Williams (3-0) recorded three outs on eight pitches.
Two singles and a walk loaded the bases for the Rangers again in the fifth. Williams again got the first out on a force at the plate. He then struck out Adolis García, who entered hitting .423 with runners in scoring position, and retired Evan Carter on popup to shallow center.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - MAY 01: Evan Carter #32 of the Texas Rangers hits the wall chasing a ball off the bat of Ildemaro Vargas of the Washington Nationals in the second inning at Globe Life Field on May 01, 2024 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Richard Ro …
"Believe it or not, I’ve been there before," Williams said. "Your thought process is one pitch at a time. You just trust that as a pitcher no matter what, you have the advantage."
Call hit a sharp single to left field in the second against Andrew Heaney (0-4) to score Ildemaro Vargas, who preceded him with a one-out double off the wall in left-center. Call was recalled from Triple-A Rochester on Saturday when Joey Gallo was placed on the 10-day injured list.
Derek Law, Dylan Floro and Hunter Harvey followed Williams before Kyle Finnegan struck out all three batters he faced in the ninth for his 10th save in 11 chances.
The game ended on a swinging strike three by Corey Seager, his bat flying toward Texas’ dugout. Seager, last year’s World Series MVP, went 0 for 4 and is 3 for 37 in his last 10 games lowering his batting average to .227.
The Nats left one on base. Vargas’ double was the game’s only extra-base hit.
It was the defending World Series champions’ second 1-0 loss this season, the other against Oakland on April 11, also at home.
García also struck out with runners on first and second to end the seventh.
The Rangers (16-15) were 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base.
"We just couldn’t get the hit, and we couldn’t get a productive out there," Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. "You’re not going to see that very often when you create that many opportunities."
Williams is 3-0 for the first time since 2018, when he finished with a career-high 14 wins for Pittsburgh. He struck out three and walked four.
Williams continued his streak of not allowing a home run this season against a Texas team that had hit multiple homers in its previous six games. He gave up a career-high 34 homers last season.
Heaney pitched a season-high seven innings, allowing one run on four hits. He walked none and struck out four while losing his first four decisions for the first time in his career.
Texas’ Josh Smith extended his on-base streak to 18 games with a first-inning single.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Nationals: OF Victor Robles (left hamstring strain) went 1 for 3 during a rehab start for Rochester.
Rangers: There’s still no date for RHP Max Scherzer’s second rehab start after he was scratched from one Tuesday with a sore thumb.
UP NEXT
Thursday’s series finale will match Nationals rookie LHP Mitchell Parker (2-0, 1.69 ERA) against Rangers RHP Nathan Eovaldi (1-2, 3.00).