Jesse Winker came back to haunt his former team with a homer and RBI double, helping the visiting Washington Nationals to a 5-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday in the opener of the three-game series.
Winker put the Nationals up 4-2 in the fifth inning with his 11th homer, a two-out solo shot 403 feet to right-center off starter Freddy Peralta.
Winker hit just .199 with one home run and 23 RBIs in 61 games in 2023 with Milwaukee in an injury-shortened season.
Robert Garcia (1-3) got the win with 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Kyle Finnegan tossed a perfect ninth for his 24th save in 28 opportunities.
Peralta (6-5) was tagged for four runs on 10 hits in five innings.
Washington took a 1-0 lead in the first when C.J. Abrams singled to open the game and scored on Winker’s two-out double to right-center. Juan Yepez followed with a single, but Winker was thrown out at the plate from right field by Sal Frelick.
The Nationals bunched four consecutive one-out hits to score twice in the fourth for a 3-0 lead. Yepez doubled and took third on Luis Garcia Jr.’s single. Keibert Ruiz followed with an RBI single and Trey Lipscomb added a run-scoring double.
Milwaukee answered with two in the bottom half when William Contreras walked to open and Willy Adames and Frelick delivered consecutive one-out doubles.
The Brewers threatened in the fifth after Brice Turang drew a two-out walk.
Contreras reached on a fielder’s choice, with Turang continuing to third on an error, which chased starter Jackson Rutledge. Robert Garcia entered and walked Christian Yelich to load the bases before fanning Adames.
Washington made it 5-2 in the seventh when Jacob Young worked a leadoff walk, advanced on a ground out and scored on Lane Thomas’s two-out bloop single to shallow center.