Nationals 5, Twins 4 (Game 2)
Ian Desmond’s seventh-inning double scored the go-ahead run as host Washington finished a doubleheader sweep of Minnesota.
Washington trailed 4-1 before rallying, capped by Desmond’s double that scored Adam LaRoche and snapped a 4-4 tie. Tyler Clippard (5-1) earned the victory with a scoreless seventh and Rafael Soriano pitched the ninth for his 16th save.
Anthony Swarzak (1-2) gave up two runs on four hits in 2 1/3 innings in relief of Samuel Deduno, who allowed three runs - two earned - in five innings.
Trailing 1-0, the Twins jumped ahead in the second on Chris Herrmann’s two-run double to right-center, and pushed the advantage to 4-1 on Pedro Florimon’s two-run homer in the third. Herrmann finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
Washington’s rally started with Jayson Werth’s run-scoring single in the third, and continued with LaRoche’s fifth-inning sacrifice fly and Denard Span’s sixth-inning triple, scoring Anthony Rendon to tie the game. Werth and Roger Bernadina each finished with two hits for Washington.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Nationals had scored just 14 runs in their previous seven games entering Sunday, but plated 12 runs in the doubleheader. … Herrmann, who went 1-for-18 in seven games with Minnesota last season, is hitting .500 (6-for-12). … Sunday night’s game, which was a makeup of Friday's rainout, was delayed by rain for 12 minutes in the bottom of the fifth.