BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Orioles went deep early and often to beat a team that knows all too well about pounding the opposition into submission.
Trey Mancini capped a three-homer binge in the first inning against Gio Gonzalez, and the Orioles beat the Washington Nationals 6-4 on Monday night for their season-high fifth straight victory.
The Nationals own the most potent offense in the majors, but on this night they were no match for the power-laden Orioles. Joey Rickard hit a leadoff homer and Mark Trumbo added a solo shot before Mancini connected with a runner on to make it 4-0, and Washington never recovered.
`The only thing that beat us tonight was the long ball," Gonzalez said. "If they take it, they're strikes. The only one that was not a strike was Trumbo."
And that one?
"Fastball over Trumbo's head," Gonzalez lamented. "Maybe throw it at the backstop, they'll swing at those."
After the Orioles let a six-run cushion shrink to three, Brad Brach worked the ninth for his eighth save. After Brach gave up a one-out RBI double to former Oriole Matt Wieters, pinch-runner Trea Turner strayed too far from second base on a groundout to first and the game ended with a rundown in which Adam Lind was tagged out between third and home.
"It was a miscommunication," Washington manager Dusty Baker said.
Kevin Gausman (2-3) allowed two runs over seven innings. He retired the first 10 batters and struck out eight in his longest outing of the year.
"It was just good to go out there and feel like myself," Gausman said. "Good command of the fastball, and being able to throw it anywhere I wanted to."
Caleb Joseph had a career high-tying four hits for the Orioles. Baltimore (21-10) owns the second-best record in the majors behind the AL East-leading New York Yankees.
Bryce Harper homered and drove in two runs for the Nationals, who lead the majors in runs, hits and batting average.
The Orioles now hold a 37-24 advantage over their neighboring rivals in the so-called "Beltway Series," which began in 2006.
Gonzalez (3-1) came in with a National League-leading 1.64 ERA for the team with the best record in the NL. None of that mattered to Baltimore, which took the lead for good when Rickard sent the left-hander's fourth pitch into the left-field seats.
"Early, he was not hitting his spots," Baker said of Gonzalez. "He was supposed to throw one ball away and it was in. Another pitch was supposed to be in and it got away. He settled down after the number of home runs they hit in that inning."
Gonzalez made it through the sixth and gave up six runs -- one fewer than his previous six starts combined. His poor outing upped his ERA to 2.64 and dropped his career record against Baltimore to 1-6.
WIETERS RETURNS
Wieters suited up in the visitor's clubhouse at Camden Yards for the first time after spending eight seasons with the Orioles.
The four-time All-Star catcher, who signed with Washington as a free agent in February, was given a standing ovation before his first at-bat.
Of his return, he said, "It's a good feeling coming in today and getting to walk into the yard. Definitely brought a smile to my face, and I'm excited for being able to play here again."
ROSTER MOVE
Washington recalled OF Brian Goodwin from Triple-A Syracuse and optioned OF Rafael Bautista to the same club.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Nationals: Harper (groin) returned after missing the last three games. ... INF Stephen Drew (hamstring), out since mid-April, will likely begin a rehab assignment over the weekend.
Orioles: 2B Jonathan Schoop was back in the lineup after sitting out two games with a swollen hand, the result of a HBP on Friday night. ... C Francisco Pena declared himself at "100 percent" after being removed from Sunday's game with cramps in his forearm and hand.
UP NEXT
Nationals: Max Scherzer (4-2, 2.66 ERA) starts Tuesday night. He pitched eight shutout innings and struck out 11 last August against Baltimore.
Orioles: Ubaldo Jimenez (1-1, 6.58) makes his sixth start after pitching out of the bullpen in Boston last week following the ejection of Gausman.
---
More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball



Final
Series: Game 1 of 2

Nationals 4

(21-11, 12-5 away)

Orioles 6

(21-10, 12-3 home)





7:05PM,EDT,May 8,2017
Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore,Maryland 

123456789 R H E
WSH 000011011 4 8 1
BAL 40020000 - 6 10 0
W: K. Gausman (2-3)
L: G. Gonzalez (3-1)
S: B. Brach (8)





View: Play-By-Play | Pitch-By-PitchInning: All | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
Washington - Top of 1stSCORE
Kevin Gausman pitching for BaltimoreWSHBAL
Difo flied out to center.00
Werth grounded out to shortstop.00
Harper struck out swinging.00
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Baltimore - Bottom of 1stSCORE
Gio Gonzalez pitching for WashingtonWSHBAL
Rickard homered to left (363 feet).01
Jones grounded out to third.01
Machado struck out swinging.01
Trumbo homered to left center (407 feet).02
Davis walked.02
Mancini homered to center (434 feet), Davis scored.04
Schoop grounded out to shortstop.04
4 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors
Washington - Top of 2ndSCORE
Kevin Gausman pitching for BaltimoreWSHBAL
Zimmerman grounded out to first.04
Murphy flied out to left.04
Rendon struck out looking.04
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Baltimore - Bottom of 2ndSCORE
Gio Gonzalez pitching for WashingtonWSHBAL
Hardy grounded out to pitcher.04
Joseph singled to center.04
Rickard fouled out to first.04
Jones flied out to center.04
0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Washington - Top of 3rdSCORE
Kevin Gausman pitching for BaltimoreWSHBAL
Lind struck out swinging.04
Wieters grounded out to shortstop.04
Taylor struck out swinging.04
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Baltimore - Bottom of 3rdSCORE
Gio Gonzalez pitching for WashingtonWSHBAL
Machado grounded out to pitcher.04
Trumbo flied out to center.04
Davis grounded out to second.04
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Washington - Top of 4thSCORE
Kevin Gausman pitching for BaltimoreWSHBAL
Difo grounded out to shortstop.04
Werth singled to center.04
Harper walked, Werth to second.04
Zimmerman struck out swinging.04
Murphy lined out to second.04
0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Baltimore - Bottom of 4thSCORE
Gio Gonzalez pitching for WashingtonWSHBAL
Mancini flied out to center.04
Schoop doubled to deep center.04
Hardy walked.04
Joseph singled to center, Schoop scored, Hardy to third.05
Rickard grounded into fielder's choice to third, Hardy scored, Joseph safe at second on throwing error by third baseman Rendon.06
Jones fouled out to catcher.06
Machado grounded out to shortstop.06
2 Runs, 2 Hits, 1 Errors
Washington - Top of 5thSCORE
Kevin Gausman pitching for BaltimoreWSHBAL
Rendon doubled to right.06
Lind struck out swinging.06
Wieters struck out looking.06
Taylor doubled to left, Rendon scored.16
Difo popped out to shortstop.16
1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors
Baltimore - Bottom of 5thSCORE
Gio Gonzalez pitching for WashingtonWSHBAL
Trumbo walked.16
Davis grounded into double play, first to third to second, Trumbo out at second.16
Mancini walked.16
Schoop struck out swinging.16
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Washington - Top of 6thSCORE
Kevin Gausman pitching for BaltimoreWSHBAL
Werth doubled to deep right center.16
Werth to third on wild pitch by Gausman.16
Harper reached on infield single to shortstop, Werth scored.26
Zimmerman popped out to second.26
Murphy grounded into fielder's choice to third, Harper out at second.26
Rendon grounded out to third.26
1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors
Baltimore - Bottom of 6thSCORE
Gio Gonzalez pitching for WashingtonWSHBAL
Hardy flied out to right.26
Joseph singled to right center.26
Rickard flied out to center.26
Jones flied out to left.26
0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Washington - Top of 7thSCORE
Kevin Gausman pitching for BaltimoreWSHBAL
Lind grounded out to second.26
Wieters flied out to center.26
Taylor struck out looking.26
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Baltimore - Bottom of 7thSCORE
Blake Treinen pitching for WashingtonWSHBAL
Treinen relieved Gonzalez.26
Machado popped out to first.26
Trumbo struck out swinging.26
Davis struck out looking.26
0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors
Washington - Top of 8thSCORE
Darren O'Day pitching for BaltimoreWSHBAL
Rickard in right field.26
Gentry in left field.26
O'Day relieved Gausman.26
Difo struck out looking.26
Werth struck out swinging.26
Harper homered to left (391 feet).36
Zimmerman flied out to center.36
1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors
Baltimore - Bottom of 8thSCORE
Joe Blanton pitching for WashingtonWSHBAL
Blanton relieved Treinen.36
Mancini singled to right.36
Schoop grounded into double play, third to second to first, Mancini out at second.36
Hardy singled to left.36
Joseph singled to center, Hardy to third.36
Rickard fouled out to third.36
0 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors
Washington - Top of 9thSCORE
Brad Brach pitching for BaltimoreWSHBAL
Brach relieved O'Day.36
Murphy walked.36
Rendon struck out swinging.36
Lind singled to center, Murphy to second.36
Wieters doubled to deep right center, Murphy scored, Lind to third.46
T. Turner ran for Wieters.46
Goodwin hit for Taylor.46
Goodwin grounded into double play, first to shortstop, Lind out at home.46
1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors




Washington Nationals

HittersABRHRBIBBSO#PAVGOBPSLG
Difo SS40000115.189.271.226
Werth LF41200118.300.386.490
Harper RF31221120.385.511.750
Zimmerman 1B40000112.420.459.875
Murphy 2B31001016.333.386.543
Rendon 3B41100222.287.369.470
Lind DH40100220.306.366.556
Wieters C40110119.273.360.477
0000000.270.316.449
Taylor CF30110217.228.274.316
a-Goodwin PH
1000001.000.000.000
Totals34484211160   
a-grounded to first for M Taylor in the 9th
BATTING
2B: Rendon (6, Gausman); Taylor (3, Gausman); Werth (4, Gausman); Wieters (6, Brach)
HR: Harper (10, 8th inning off O'Day 0 on, 2 Out)
RBI: Taylor (4), Harper 2 (29), Wieters (13)
2-out RBI: Taylor, Harper
Nationals RISP: 3-9 (Wieters 1-2, Goodwin 0-1, Difo 0-1, Lind 0-1, Zimmerman 0-1, Harper 1-1, Taylor 1-1, Murphy 0-1)
Team LOB: 5
FIELDING
E: Rendon (3, throw)
DP: 2 (Zimmerman-Rendon-Murphy, Rendon-Murphy-Zimmerman).

Game Information

StadiumOriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD
Attendance23,525 (51.2% full) - % is based on regular season capacity
Game Time2:54
Weather62 degrees, partly cloudy
Wind4 mph
UmpiresHome Plate - Jeff Nelson, First Base - Laz Diaz, Second Base - Doug Eddings, Third Base - Cory Blaser