Reds 5, Nationals 2
Brandon Phillips drove home two runs and rookie Tony Cingrani struck out 11 - including four in one inning - as Cincinnati avoided a four-game sweep at Washington.
The Reds snapped an eight-game road losing streak, improving their record away from home to 2-8. Cingrani (2-0), making his third major-league start, allowed two hits with one walk in six scoreless innings and Aroldis Chapman pitched the ninth for his fifth save.
Phillips’ single to center in the first off Washington starter Ross Detwiler (1-2) gave Cincinnati an early 2-0 lead. A second-inning RBI single from Joey Votto and Zack Cozart’s fourth-inning RBI single pushed the lead to 4-0.
The Nationals scored in the seventh on Kurt Suzuki’s double to left, scoring Ian Desmond. The Nationals put runners on second and third later in the inning, but Cincinnati reliever Sean Marshall induced an inning-ending groundout from Denard Span.
Cozart, Votto and Jay Bruce each finished with two hits for Cincinnati, which avoided its four-game sweep by the Washington franchise since the Montreal Expos swept the Reds in 1989. Detwiler allowed 11 hits and four runs (three earned) in five innings.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Washington OF Bryce Harper, who started the day second in the NL in batting average at .373, went 0-for-3 to drop his average to .360. Harper walked and scored in the eighth on Desmond’s double. … Phillips’ two RBIs pushed him into the NL lead with 24. … Cingrani fanned four batters when Denard Span led off the fourth by reaching on a wild pitch after striking out. He has 28 strikeouts in 18 innings.