Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Washington 11, Kansas City 10
When: 8:10 PM ET, Friday, August 23, 2013
Where: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
Temperature: 88°
Umpires: Home - Bruce Dreckman, 1B - Tim Welke, 2B - Mike Everitt, 3B - Dan Bellino
Attendance: 28733

Nationals 11, Royals 10: Jayson Werth capped a seven-run rally with a home run as Washington battled back from a six-run deficit and edged host Kansas City.

Bryce Harper added a two-run double and Denard Span tripled in a run for the Nationals, who won their fourth straight game to pull back to .500 at 64-64. Rookie right-hander Tanner Roark (4-0) allowed one hit in 4 2/3 scoreless innings of relief to earn the win.

The Royals struck for three runs in each of the first two innings before Washington started to get back into the game. Span tripled in a run in the third and the Nationals broke through in the fourth, getting two quick runs before Harper cut the deficit to one with his double and Werth put them on top with a two-run blast to left-center off Louis Coleman.

Eric Hosmer homered and drove in three and Alex Gordon went 3-for-4 with an RBI and four runs scored as Kansas City suffered its sixth straight loss. Jason Maxwell added a solo homer and plated two in the ninth with a single but the Royals remained seven games behind the Oakland Athletics for the second American League wild card spot.

Hosmer hit a two-run blast and Maxwell homered off Gio Gonzalez in the first inning before Gordon, Hosmer and Billy Butler each drove in a run to make it 6-0 in the second. Kansas City put runners on second and third with no outs in the ninth and Rafael Soriano allowed the inherited runners and one of his own to score before collecting his 33rd save.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Nationals traded OF David DeJesus to the Tampa Bay Rays for a player to be named or cash. They also sent C Kurt Suzuki to Oakland for minor league RHP Dakota Bacus. … Gonzales was knocked around for seven runs (six earned) on nine hits in 3 1/3 innings. Royals starter Bruce Chen (5-2) was charged with seven runs on six hits and five walks in 3 2/3 frames. Chen is 0-2 with a 13.00 ERA in his last two turns after going 2-0 with a 0.93 mark in his first six starts. … Werth’s blast marked the first earned run of the season allowed by Coleman, who had posted zeroes through his first 18 games (21 innings).
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Washington   Kansas City
Gio Gonzalez Player Bruce Chen
No Decision W/L Loss
3.1 IP 3.2
1 Strikeouts 2
10 Hits 6
18.90 ERA 17.18
Hitting
Washington   Kansas City
Ian Desmond Player Eric Hosmer
3 Hits 3
0 RBI 3
0 HR 1
3 TB 7
.600 Avg 1.000
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Washington 13 1 20 .342 18 7 9 7 1 0
Kansas City 14 2 24 .368 15 3 10 5 2 1