WASHINGTON � After 16 consecutive scoreless innings, the Royals' offense came to life with an eighth-inning rally to tie their rubber match on the road against the Washington Nationals. Then it all went downhill in a hurry.
The Nationals scored three eighth-inning runs to break open a tie score and snatch the game and the series as the Royals dropped the series finale 5-2 in front of an announced 21,873 at Nationals Park Sunday afternoon.
The Nationals (47-42) scored all three eighth-inning runs (two earned) against Royals left-handed reliever Jake Diekman.
Alex Gordon went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI, while Jorge Soler also doubled and Adalberto Mondesi drove in a run and scored a run for the Royals (30-61).
Royals starter Jakob Junis made two costly mistakes on a day that his club's offense got shut down by Nationals starter Patrick Corbin.
Junis came in having given up 11 runs (10 earned) in his previous two starts, both against the Cleveland Indians, but he put together his best start in weeks.
Junis pitched seven compete innings, which he'd only done twice in 18 previous starts this season. He allowed two runs on a pair of solo home runs, allowed just five hits and walked two on a day when he also struck out six.
However, Corbin held the Royals scoreless for seven innings _ the second consecutive day a Nationals starter tossed seven scoreless against the Royals. Like Max Scherzer, a former University of Missouri standout, did on Saturday, Corbin also struck out 11.
A pair of solo home runs courtesy of Brian Dozier and Victor Robles provided the Nationals a 2-0 lead going into the eighth inning.
The Royals scored two runs with two outs in the eighth after Martin Maldonado singled and Terrance Gore pinch-ran for him. Gore stole second base and scored on a two-out RBI single flared into left field off the end of Mondesi's bat.
Batting against Nationals left-handed reliever Sean Doolittle, Gordon rocketed an RBI double high off the wall in right-center field to tie it as Mondesi sped around to score from first base.
The Nationals took the lead back in the bottom of the eighth against Diekman. He allowed a one-out single to Adam Eaton up the middle followed by an RBI double by Anthony Rendon driven into the left-center field gap.
Then, after Diekman committed a fielding error on a slow roller by Juan Soto, pinch-hitter Howie Kendrick ripped a two-run double down the third base line and into the left field corner that gave the Nationals a three-run advantage, 5-2.
