CJ Abrams helps Nationals cruise past Twins

CJ Abrams went 2-for-3 with a homer, and the Washington Nationals pulled away for a 7-2 win over the Minnesota Twins on Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Alex Call drove in two runs for Washington, which completed back-to-back wins to secure a series victory. Daylen Lile tripled and drove in a run.
Matt Wallner hit a solo home run for Minnesota, which dropped to 3-6 since returning from the All-Star break. Harrison Bader went 2-for-3 with a double.
Nationals right-hander Jake Irvin (8-5) limited the Twins to two runs on five hits in seven innings. He walked none and struck out two, and he threw 63 of 86 pitches for strikes.
The outing marked a homecoming for Irvin, who grew up in the nearby suburb of Bloomington, Minn. It was his first big-league start in Minnesota, and he pitched in front of dozens of friends and family members who watched him from the stands.
Twins right-hander Travis Adams (1-1) surrendered five runs on five hits in 3 1/3 innings. He was one of six pitchers who took the mound as part of a bullpen game for the Twins, who used right-hander Cole Sands as the opener for the first two innings.
Abrams set the tone on the first pitch of the game. He belted a 418-foot shot over the wall in right-center field for his 14th homer of the season.
The Twins evened the score on Wallner’s solo shot in the second. It was his 12th homer.
The back-and-forth battle continued as each team scored a run in the third. Luis Garcia Jr. hit a sacrifice fly for the Nationals, and Trevor Larnach did the same for Minnesota.
The Nationals’ Paul DeJong provided the go-ahead RBI with a sacrifice fly in the fourth.
Washington broke the game open with four runs in the fifth. Josh Bell hit an RBI single to the opposite field, Call followed with a two-run single to center, and Lile finished the rally with a sacrifice fly to center.
The Twins played without All-Star outfielder Byron Buxton, who left Saturday’s game because of soreness in his left side. Buxton underwent testing on Sunday but the team did not provide an update on his status.