Royals take advantage of Nationals; miscues, win 6-4 to snap losing 7-game streak

The Washington Nationals played horrendous defense in the eighth, and the Kansas City Royals took advantage to score two runs in the inning, snapping a seven-game losing streak with a 6-4 victory.

Craig Stammen recorded the first two outs of the eighth before Eric Hosmer drew a walk. Billy Butler followed with a groundball at Adam LaRoche, who misplayed the ball. LaRoche eventually recovered, but Stammen did not cover the bag, giving Butler an "infield single."

Mike Moustakas then drew a walk, loading the bases for Salvador Perez. Perez hit a groundball right at Ian Desmond, who ended up booting the play. Desmond recovered and attempted to force out Butler at third base, but the throw was too late, scoring Hosmer.

David Lough followed with a single to right, scoring Butler. Moustakas was sent home and gunned down by Tyler Moore, but the Royals handed a two-run lead to Greg Holland. Holland worked around a pair of singles, striking out three for his 35^th save of the year.

The Royals jumped over Dan Haren in the first inning, hanging a crooked number on the starter. Alex Gordon got things started with a leadoff homer, lifting the second pitch he saw into right-center for his 14^th homer of the year.

Emilio Bonifacio followed with a single. Bonificaio attempted to steal second on an 0-2 pitch to Hosmer, but Hosmer slapped a single to centerfield. Desmond dove for the ball, but ended it ended up bouncing off him into shallow centerfield, which allowed Bonifacio to score.

Perez drove in the final two runs of the inning with a two-run bomb, yanking a hanging breaking ball into the leftfield bullpen to give the Royals a 4-0 lead.

The Nationals scored their first run in the top of the fourth inning. Desmond absolutely crushed an offering from Ervin Santana, lining the pitch off the Hall of Fame in left field.

Washington had another strong opportunity to score in the sixth, as the first two hitters of the inning reached safely. Santana did a good job limiting the damage, but fell apart in the seventh.

Denard Span pushed the Nationals second run across with a two-out solo shot to centerfield. Ryan Zimmerman then hit a single to left, and Bryce Harper followed with a two-run blast of his own, tying the game at four.

Yost lifted Santana after Harper's homer. The starter tossed 6 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on 11 hits. Santana struck out seven and walked none, but the three home runs plagued him.

The Royals offense didn't amount to much against Haren after the first inning, only collecting four hits against the starter over the next six innings. Kansas City did have the first two runners reach base in the second inning, but Gordon lined into a double play, effectively ending the threat.

The team also had two runners on with one out in the fifth, but Hosmer grounded into a double play to end the inning. The offense would not threaten again until the eighth, which ended up being enough.