Giants show surprising power in victory over Nationals

Evan Longoria, Steven Duggar and Brandon Belt hit homers off Stephen Strasburg as the light-hitting San Francisco Giants beat the host Washington Nationals 7-3 on Tuesday. Nationals manager Dave Martinez was ejected in the fifth for arguing with home plate umpire Tony Randazzo after several of his players took called third strikes.

The Giants entered the game last in the National League with a team batting average of .199 and now have 13 homers. Longoria and Duggar homered in the fifth for a 3-1 lead and Belt hit a solo shot in the sixth to make it 4-1. Gerardo Parra had an RBI double in the seventh and some sloppy fielding by the Nationals led to a run-scoring infield single by Joe Panik for a 6-1 advantage in the seventh. The Giants took a 7-3 lead in the eighth on an RBI single by Kevin Pillar off struggling reliever Trevor Rosenthal.

Pinch hitter Matt Adams of the Nationals had hit a solo homer in the last of the seventh to trim the margin to 6-2 off reliever Sam Dyson. Later, Anthony Rendon had an RBI single to make it 6-3. Giants starter Dereck Rodriguez (2-2) gave up one run on five hits with six strikeouts in five innings.

Strasburg (1-1), who has given up five homers in his last two starts, went six innings and allowed four earned runs on six hits with eight strikeouts. Wilmer Difo and Strasburg had back-to-back doubles as the Nationals took a 1-0 lead in the last of the second inning.

The Giants took over from there. The Giants entered the game with a bullpen ERA of 1.77, the best mark in the National League. Washington relievers had a mark of 7.75, the worst in the league. The Nationals bullpen allowed three runs.

Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) reported before the game that Rendon and the Nationals met Tuesday to talk about a possible contract extension. Rendon, with a 14-game hitting streak, is in the last year of his contract after he broke into the majors in April 2015. --Field Level Media

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