Diamondbacks 6, Nationals 4
WASHINGTON -- Rookie right-hander Zack Godley won his third consecutive start, and shortstop Nick Ahmed had four hits, including a homer, as the surging Arizona Diamondbacks beat the slumping Washington Nationals 6-4 Monday.
Godley (3-0) gave up just three singles in six scoreless innings during the third start of his big league career. He walked walks and struck out six. He was efficient and effectively wild, as he threw just 83 pitches, 48 for strikes.
Arizona (51-53) won for the eighth time in 11 games while Washington (54-50), in its first home game since July 22, lost its fourth time in a row. The Nationals were in danger of falling out of first place for the first time since June 19.
Diamondbacks reliever Addison Reed pitched two scoreless innings before Virginia native Daniel Hudson started the ninth for Arizona. Hudson gave up a solo homer to first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, an RBI single by catcher Wilson Ramos and a two-run double to center fielder Michael A. Taylor before closer Brad Ziegler came on to face pinch hitter Jayson Werth with one out, Taylor on second and the score 6-4.
Ziegler got Werth on a grounder and retired third baseman Yunel Escobar for the final out of a foul fly ball to left.
Washington starter Doug Fister, who has not won at home since June 25, yielded five runs and eight hits in six innings. Fister (4-7) gave up a season-high three homers.
The Diamondbacks hit four homers, including a solo shot by Jake Lamb in the ninth that upped the margin to 6-0. It was the fourth homer of the season for Lamb, who had two hits on the night.
Arizona left fielder David Peralta added two hits, including a homer.
The Nationals were swept in a three-game weekend series in New York against the Mets, then fell Monday in the opener of a seven-game homestand that precedes a three-city, West Coast trip.
Center fielder A.J. Pollock had a sacrifice fly in the fifth to give the Diamondbacks a 5-0 lead.
The Diamondbacks had scored three runs in the fourth against Fister, as Peralta hit a two-run homer -- his 10th of the year -- and catcher Welington Castillo followed with a solo shot two pitches later to make it 4-0. It was the 12th homer of the year for Castillo.
It was the second day in a row a Washington starting pitcher allowed back-to-back homers. Jordan Zimmermann gave up long balls Sunday in New York against the Mets' Curtis Granderson and Daniel Murphy on back-to-back pitches.
Ahmed gave his team a 1-0 with a solo homer in the third. Ahmed entered the game hitting .188 against righties and .324 against left-handers. However, his seventh homer of the season, on a 3-1 pitch from Fister, was his fifth of the season against a right-hander.
NOTES: Washington RHP Max Scherzer (11-8, 2.22 ERA) will start Tuesday against Arizona LHP Patrick Corbin (2-3, 3.21 ERA). ... Nationals manager Matt Williams, a former Diamondbacks third baseman, was on the coaching staff of Arizona during the 2013 season before he got the head job in Washington. ... Arizona CF A.J. Pollock was in the starting lineup and hitting second after sitting out Saturday and Sunday with soft tissue soreness in his left knee. ... Arizona assistant GM Bryan Minniti was part of the Washington front office through the end of the 2014 season. He made the trip with the Diamondbacks to the nation's capital.