Schwarber homer lifts Nationals over Diamondbacks

Washington Nationals left fielder Kyle Schwarber hits a walk-off home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the ninth inning at Nationals Park in Washington. (USA TODAY Sports)

Kyle Schwarber homered in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the host Washington Nationals a 1-0, walk-off win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday. Facing Alex Young (0-3) with one out, Schwarber got under a 2-1 sinker for a 463-foot blast to right center. It was Schwarber’s first homer as a National, and it broke an 0-for-12 skid. “To be able to put that swing on the ball there and give us a win, can’t ask for anything better,” he said during an on-field interview after the game. Brad Hand (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the win. Three Washington pitchers limited the Diamondbacks to three hits and two walks while striking out 13. Josh Harrison had two hits for Washington. One night after the Diamondbacks clubbed four home runs off Washington pitchers in an 11-6 win, Nationals starter Max Scherzer shut them out for seven dominant innings. He allowed two singles while striking out 10 and walking two over 106 pitches. Scherzer (2,808 career strikeouts) passed Cy Young (2,803) for 22nd place on the all-time whiff list. Over his past two starts, Scherzer has allowed one run in 13 innings. He has 24 strikeouts in 19 innings over his three starts this season. Arizona’s Taylor Widener, making his third major league start, matched zeros with Scherzer for six innings, giving up only four hits while striking out three with two walks. Harrison and Starlin Castro singled with one out in the Washington second, but Widener retired Alex Avila and Victor Robles. Before the game, Nationals manager Dave Martinez said starting pitcher Jon Lester is getting closer to returning from his stint on the Covid-related injury list. Martinez said Lester felt good after throwing a three-inning, 49-pitch simulated game in Fredericksburg, Va. The left-hander is likely to make at least one more rehab start before rejoining the rotation. Dodgers pull away from Padres in 12th, win 7th straight Corey Seager hit a two-run homer to open the 12th inning Friday night, triggering a five-run rally that led the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers to an 11-6 victory over the San Diego Padres. The Dodgers earned their seventh consecutive win while the Padres lost for the third time in four games. Mookie Betts was the inning-opening runner on second when Seager homered to center on the first pitch he saw from Tim Hill (0-2). The Dodgers added on with RBI singles by Zach McKinstry and Luke Raley and a sacrifice fly by winning pitcher David Price (1-0) to Padres no-hitter pitcher Joe Musgrove, who as playing left field. The Padres failed to score with the winning at third and one out in both the 10th and 11th innings. Both teams scored in the ninth against the other side’s closer. Los Angeles’ Justin Turner drove in Betts with a tiebreaking single off Mark Melancon with one out in the top of the ninth to give the Dodgers a 6-5 lead. Results Nationals    1-0    D’backs Dodgers    11-6    Padres Reds    10-3    Indians Angels    10-3    Twins Mariners    6-5    Astros Braves    5-2    Cubs Pirates    6-1    Brewers Rays    8-2    Yankees Phillies    9-2    Cardinals Marlins    4-1    Giants Orioles    5-2    Rangers Athletics    3-0    Tigers