PHOENIX (AP) -- Michael Taylor hit his first career grand slam in the ninth after Bryce Harper was ejected two innings earlier, lifting the Washington Nationals to a 9-6 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday.
Taylor entered the game in the seventh inning after Harper and Nationals manager Matt Williams were ejected for arguing a check swing call.
Arizona took a 6-5 lead on pinch-hitter Yasmany Tomas' run-scoring single in the eighth off Aaron Barrett (2-2), but the Nationals loaded the bases in the ninth against Addison Reed (0-2). In his first career at-bat with the bases loaded, Taylor sent the ball over the yellow line in center for his first slam.
 
Taylor's slam sends Nationals to 9-6 win over D-backs
 
Jayson Werth hit a three-run homer and Tyler Moore added a two-run shot for the Nationals, who have won five straight series.
Drew Storen worked a perfect ninth for his 10th save.
Paul Goldschmidt had three of Arizona's 14 hits and finished a homer short of the cycle. A.J. Pollock had two RBIs.
Werth has gotten off to a slow start after offseason shoulder surgery, hitting .187 with three extra-base hits in 24 games heading into Wednesday.
He had been working on shortening his swing to get his timing back and it paid off in the third inning, when he sent a towering drive off Jeremy Hellickson into the overhang seats in left-center.
Hellickson was replaced by Randall Delgado in the sixth inning and Moore hit his second pitch off the foul pole in left for a two-run homer that tied the game at 5.
Hellickson allowed four runs on four hits in 5 2-3 innings.
Gio Gonzalez was sharp his previous two outings, allowing two earned runs while striking out 17 in 14 innings.
The left-hander gave up a run-scoring single to Arizona's Nick Ahmed in the second inning and ran into trouble in the third, giving up three runs on Goldschmidt's double, Pollock's groundout and an error by shortstop Ian Desmond.
Arizona went up 5-3 in the fifth inning after Pollock followed Goldschmidt's triple with a run-scoring single.
Gonzalez allowed five runs on nine hits and struck out three in five innings.
 

Comments are closed.