Ruiz Homers in Victorious Rubber Match

The Nats beat the Twins 7-5 on Thursday afternoon for their first home series victory of the series. Mark & Al have plenty of praise for Keibert Ruiz, who doubled twice and broke a late tie with a solo homer in the bottom of 7th. Ruiz's OPS rose an astonishing .127 points in  single day. (10:30) Breaking down the Nationals catching situation after back to back days of rare offensive production from that position. (18:00) Curtis Mead knocked in a pair of runs while hitting 3rd in the lineup. (20:05) The victory masked Jake Irvin's so-so outing on Thursday.  Irvin allowed eight hits and four runs in just innings of work as his ERA is a concerning 5.22. (23:00) Multiple instances of good defense by the Nats in this game. (27:20) Gus Varland notched his 4th save of the season to extend his team lead in that category. (30:30) Washington heads to Miami for a three game set over the weekend.  Foster Griffin will start on Friday as the team enters the road trip at two games below .500.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.