National manager Martinez rages after controversial obstruction call during Astros loss

HOUSTON — Jose Abreu score on catcher Keibert RuizThrow’s error in a wild ninth inning to give Houston Astros won 5-4 first Citizens of Washington on Wednesday night.

Kyle Tucker led with a single knocking out Hunter Harvey (2-3), and Abreu followed with a domestic single. Yainer Diaz attacked before Corey Julks walked to load the base to establish Jake Meyers’ foundation for short.

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CJ Abrams threw in home to score the second, but Ruiz’s first throw-in missed Meyers’ helmet and allowed Abreu to score.

The Nationals debated the final game with the umpires, saying that Meyers was out of the baseline, but to no avail.

Washington manager Dave Martinez kicked off his post-game readiness by holding up a photo showing Meyers running across the lawn on the way home.

“It’s right there,” Martinez said. “Look at it. Is that on the line? I do not think so. I finish this play. Serious. They need to fix the rule. If this is what the referee sees that he’s running down the line, I’m tired of that. I’m tired of it. Fix it. We lost the game, and he didn’t have anything to say about it because he couldn’t call properly. Brutal.”

Martinez said he was not told just that home team referee Jeremy Riggs saw Meyers running down the line.

“I think they’re arguing about whether he’s in the starting lineup,” Houston manager Dusty Baker said. “It was always a problem call. Nobody really has a good vantage point except the real home team umpire, and he says it’s nothing.”

Meyers said he ran up the line and collided with first guard Matt Chavis’s gloves, adding that he was touching the soles.

“I think that kind of took the ball away,” Meyers said. “I’m not really sure, but I know we scored, and we won. Good.”

Washington regrouped in three ninth runs closer to Houston than Ryan Pressly (1-2). Joey Meneses fouled Alex Bregman to start the inning and scored a Corey Dickerson RBI double.

After Ruiz landed, Ildemaro Vargas landed for the pitcher, but Pressly threw the ball towards the post, allowing Dickerson to score. Dominic Smith drew it at 4 with the RBI trio, but Pressly recovered to get two goals to close the half and keep the score a draw.

“I think we have to go out there with at least a draw because we have some horses coming up on the ninth stage,” said Baker. “We gave them three runs in ninth place, and they gave us one run in bottom ninth.”

Abreu hit a double in the first leg, and Abreu and Diaz hit a home run in the fourth to make it 4-0. Abreu finished with three hits and a 5 to 7 in two games against Washington.

Frame Valdez allows one run with five hits with six attacks in seven innings. He lowered his ERA to 2.27. Valdez has allowed one run or less in four of his last five starts.

The Nationals came back in the fifth round against Abrams’ RBI, scoring for Smith, who doubled the lead to take the half.

Josiah Gray allows four runs with six hits with five attacks in seven innings. This is the second time in the last three matches that the Gray Lobster surrendered four times.

Washington has lost eight of its last nine games.

WOMEN TRAINING ROOM

Astros: SS Jeremy Pena missed the third game in a row due to an unspecified illness. Baker said Pena will be in the lineup on Thursday. RHP Lance McCullers Jr. will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his right forearm on Tuesday to repair the flexor tendon and remove the bone spur, Astros General Manager Dana Brown announced. DH Yordan Alvarez could miss at least four weeks with a right oblique strain, Brown says. Michael Brantley’s (right shoulder surgery) was painless and looked fine, Brown said, adding that Brantley was running, throwing and hitting. Brantley will continue to be given more work to do, but the timing of his return remains uncertain, Brown said. Brown said RHP Jose Urquidy (right shoulder) is throwing more than 100 feet from flat ground, with a return date expected around or after the All Star break.

NEXT

The MacKenzie Gore National Film Festival (3-5, 4.04 ERA) will kick off Thursday against RHP Cristian Javier (7-1, 3.13) in the final of the three-game series.

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