Upton homers twice as Padres beat Nationals 6-5 - San Jose Mercury News
WASHINGTON (AP) — After struggling all season on the road, San Diego slugger Justin Upton looked perfectly at home in Nationals Park. Upton homered twice — just his sixth and seventh round-trippers away from Petco Park this season — and the Padres held on to a 6-5 victory over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night. Matt Kemp added a two-run double and Tyson Ross (9-9) allowed four runs in 6 1-3 innings for the Padres, who evened the three-game series and will try for their fifth straight series victory in Thursday's finale. "That's the goal from day one of the season to try and win each series and we've done a good job of it lately," said Upton, a player some expected to be traded at last month's non-waiver trade deadline. Even after Upton's 21st and 22nd home runs of the season, the outfielder is still only batting. "I've played a lot of games at this ballpark so that helps out," said Upton, who is hitting. "I'm not trying not to play well on the road, but it just hasn't been in the cards for me. ". His first homer, a lined shot into the Padres' bullpen, brought in the final two runs of a four-run third. The Nationals' rally in the bottom of the inning was halted by Yunel Escobar's grounder into a 5-4-3 double play on a 3-0 pitch, a decision his manager supported. Source: www.mercurynews.com
