Nationals win challenge in first inning against Astros

WASHINGTON -- Nationals manager Matt Williams challenged a call at second base in the bottom of the first inning of Wednesday night's 6-5 win against the Astros.

Denard Span walked to lead off the frame before attempting to steal. Astros catcher Jason Castro fired a throw to second base and umpire Adrian Johnson called Span out. Williams argued Span was safe and challenged the call.

After a review of two minutes and eight seconds, the call was overturned. It was Span's 11th stolen base of the season.

"I wasn't too sure, but once I saw the replay, I was definitely certain that I was safe," said Span, who stole his second base of the night in the second inning. "I knew I got a good jump and felt like I beat the tag."

Williams' correct challenge ended up having a huge impact on the final result. An infield single from Anthony Rendon in the next at-bat moved Span to third before Adam LaRoche hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score the leadoff man.

"We trust the players," Williams said. "They feel it. They see it. They know it. So might as well go out there. It's an opportunity for us to get a guy in scoring position with nobody out, so we went out there and made the call up here. And they were confident he was safe, and it turned out to be correct."