Carlos Santana's 3-run homer helps Guardians beat Nationals 9-1 and split a doubleheader

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Austin Hedges slugs another Guardians HR

Austin Hedges hits the fourth home run of the night for Cleveland to make it 9-1.

May 7, 2026, 09:10 am

WASHINGTON -- — Carlos Santana broke a scoreless tie with a three-run homer in the sixth inning and started a late onslaught by the Cleveland Guardians, who beat the Washington Nationals 9-1 on Tuesday night to split a doubleheader.

Daniel Schneemann and Austin Hedges also went deep for the Guardians, who scored 18 runs in the twinbill but lost the opener, 10-9. Cleveland has won six of eight.

Ben Lively (2-2) gave up a solo homer to Riley Adams, one of two hits he allowed over 5 1/3 innings.

Brad Lord (1-4) pitched a career-high six innings for Washington and was working on a shutout before Santana turned on an 0-2 fastball and sent it into the bullpen in right field with two outs in the sixth.

Steven Kwan's RBI double capped a three-run seventh, Schneemann hit a two-run homer in the eighth and Hedges added a solo shot in the ninth.

The Nationals threw four wild pitches, two by Eduardo Salazar and one each by Lucas Sims and Jackson Rutledge.

Key moment

José Ramírez drew a two-out walk that moved Kwan to second base before Santana's 397-foot drive.

Key stat

Washington's James Wood singled in the first inning to push his on-base streak to a career-high 16 games, although he didn't stay on base for long. He was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.

Up next

Guardians left-hander Logan Allen (1-2, 4.02 ERA) is scheduled to start against the Nationals' Michael Soroka (0-1, 7.20) on Wednesday at 12:05 p.m. as the teams play their third game in a 24-hour span. Soroka hasn't pitched since he suffered a strained biceps in his Nationals debut on March 31.

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