Abrams breaks Nats' shortstop record with 26th HR -- and then hits another one

WASHINGTON – CJ Abrams continued the Nationals’ best individual week-long power surge in five years Sunday, blasting two home runs in a 10-7 victory over the Diamondbacks to take a three-game series between Wild Card contenders.

Abrams hit a solo shot against Kohl Drake in the third inning that was originally deemed in play before being ruled a homer upon video review. He then added a two-run shot off Jonathan Loáisiga to take the lead in the fifth as Washington (54-52) pulled within a game of Arizona (55-51) for the final NL Wild Card spot.

“It’s fun to watch,” outfielder James Wood said. “It feels like every night he’s going to do something special.”

Wood also homered twice for the Nationals, joining Adam Dunn (2009-10) as the only players with back-to-back 30-homer seasons since the team moved to Washington in 2005.

Abrams is hitting .567 (17-for-30) with seven homers and 14 RBIs in his last seven games. He is the first National with seven homers in a seven-game span since Kyle Schwarber did it in June 2021, and his 27 homers moved him past Ian Desmond for the most in a season by a Nationals shortstop. Desmond had 25 in 2012.

“It means a lot,” Abrams said. “It shows the work that I put in pays off.”

The Nationals went into their half of the fifth down 4-2, but Wood followed Nasim Nuñez’s leadoff walk with his 29th homer, a shot to center that chased Drake. Pinch-hitter Daylen Lile singled off Loáisiga (2-3), and Abrams followed with a Statcast-projected 399-foot shot two batters later.

It was Abrams’ second multi-homer game of the season – the other was Tuesday at Colorado – and the fourth of his career.

“I’ve been swinging at better pitches,” Abrams said. “Today, those were balls, but just swinging at better pitches and being more relaxed at the plate allows me to be more disciplined. Good things happen when I’m relaxed.”

As significant as his second homer of the day was, his first was arguably more remarkable. After falling behind 0-2 in a lefty-on-lefty matchup, he golfed a low curveball on the outer half of the plate the opposite way.

Abrams wasn’t sure it was a home run off the bat and hustled to third, spending several moments standing there before a replay review declared it a home run.

“I said to him when he was coming up for his at-bat after that and he was standing on the steps next to me, ‘That might have been the most impressive home run I’ve ever seen you hit,’” manager Blake Butera said. “He’s like, ‘I don’t know how I did that.’ He was actually mad at himself for swinging at the two pitches prior. That’s just CJ. He has expectations and knows how to have success in the box.”

Washington pulled away with a three-run seventh highlighted by consecutive RBI doubles by Brady House and Jacob Young. House went 2-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored in his first Major League game since May 18. The third baseman was called up from Triple-A Rochester on Sunday after the Nationals traded infielder Curtis Mead to the Red Sox for left-handed pitcher Connelly Early.

“I think I’m just trying to get to the point where no matter what kind of at-bat it is, that I’m looking to hit the ball hard,” House said.

Wood led off the eighth with an opposite-field homer off Kevin Ginkel. He and Abrams became the seventh pair of Nationals to have multi-homer performances in the same game. Luis Garcia Jr. and Lile did it twice earlier this season.

Riley Cornelio (2-1) gave up a run while working the fifth and sixth. After Matt Krook walked the bases loaded to start the ninth, Clayton Beeter entered and allowed two of the inherited runners to score, but got Tyler Locklear to ground out with the bases loaded to secure his 10th save.

Neither starter recorded an out in the fifth inning. The Nationals’ Miles Mikolas allowed three runs – including solo homers by Geraldo Perdomo and Ketel Marte – over four innings. Drake surrendered four runs in four-plus innings in his second career start.