WASHINGTON (AP) — Lane Thomas hit a grand slam and the Washington Nationals routed the Chicago White Sox 13-3 on Wednesday.
Joey Meneses and Dominic Smith also homered for Washington, which won back-to-back games for the first time since taking three in a row from Aug. 24-26.
Gavin Sheets drove in two runs for Chicago, which has dropped nine of 12 and 14 of 19. The White Sox (58-95) are 37 games under .500 for the first time since finishing 62-100 in 2018.
Thomas broke the game open after Jesse Scholtens allowed Luis García’s single, hit Jake Alu and walked CJ Abrams to load the bases in the third inning. After taking the first pitch, Thomas hammered a curveball to left for his 26th home run and second career grand slam to put Washington up 8-1.
Before the blast, Thomas was 4 for 33 lifetime with the bases loaded, including 1 for 13 this season.
Scholtens surrendered six runs in two innings, including Smith’s solo homer to lead off the fourth.
Meneses homered for the second day in a row, a two-run shot in the fifth off Deivi García.
Josiah Gray (8-12) earned his first victory since July 22. The right-hander gave up a run on five hits in five innings and struck out four.
Washington took the lead in the second on Ildemaro Vargas’ RBI single off Tanner Banks (0-4). Abrams later added a two-run double to make it 4-1.
TRAINER’S ROOM
White Sox: Chicago activated LHP Garrett Crochet (shoulder) from the injured list and placed RHP Gregory Santos (elbow inflammation) on the 15-day IL. Santos went 2-2 with a 3.39 ERA and five saves in 60 games.
Nationals: RHP Trevor Williams’ turn in the rotation will be skipped. Williams has thrown 141 innings after not surpassing 91 innings in each of the last three seasons. “He wants to finish the year off, so I thought the best thing was to skip him one and let him have one more,” manager Dave Martinez said. … Martinez said LHP MacKenzie Gore (finger blister) will not pitch again this season. Gore has been on the injured list since Sept. 9.
UP NEXT
White Sox: After Thursday’s off day, RHP Touki Toussaint (4-7, 5.40 ERA) makes his second career start against Boston and first since 2018 when Chicago begins a three-game series Friday at Fenway Park.
Nationals: RHP Jake Irvin (3-6, 4.34), who has a 2.48 ERA in five home starts since July 31, faces Atlanta for the first time as Washington begins a four-game series Thursday.
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