Daylen Lile and Luis García Jr. each collected three hits and launched two home runs, powering the Washington Nationals to a commanding 10-4 victory over the host Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night.
Lile, who grew up in nearby Louisville, Kentucky, delivered a solo homer in the fourth inning and a three-run blast in the fifth — his first career multi-homer performance. García added two solo shots, while James Wood and Brady House also went deep for Washington.
The duo of Lile and García became the sixth pair in Nationals history (since the team’s relocation in 2005) to hit multiple home runs in the same game, and the first since Brian Dozier and Juan Soto achieved the feat on August 18, 2019, in a 16-8 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.
Brad Lord (2-0) earned the win with 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief. For the Reds, Sal Stewart recorded three hits, and JJ Bleday chipped in two hits and two RBIs.
Cincinnati starter Brady Singer (2-3) remained in the game after taking a hard-hit grounder off his right leg in the second inning—a 100+ mph shot off Lile’s bat. He allowed three runs on six hits over 3 2/3 innings.
The Nationals jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third when Wood homered to left-center field, and García followed with a blast to right. Lile then led off the fourth with a solo shot to right, extending the lead to 3-0.
The Reds answered in the bottom of the fourth. Singles from Elly De La Cruz and Stewart, followed by a walk to Bleday, loaded the bases against starter Miles Mikolas. Matt McLain grounded into a fielder’s choice to bring in a run. After Will Benson walked, Lord entered the game. Tyler Stephenson reached on a fielding error by third baseman House, allowing another run to score and pulling Cincinnati within 3-2.
Washington responded in the fifth. García led off with a solo homer to make it 4-2. House walked, CJ Abrams singled, and Jacob Young grounded into a fielder’s choice before Lile crushed a three-run shot to right, pushing the lead to 7-2.
The Nationals continued to pour it on. In the eighth, Keibert Ruiz doubled, and House followed with a two-run homer. José Tena added an RBI double in the ninth to make it 10-2. Bleday capped the scoring with a two-run single in the bottom half of the inning.
