Cashner pitches Rangers over Nationals

WASHINGTON — It was Tanner Roark bobblehead night, and he got the start for Washington. Once the game began, the Nationals were the ones with the bobbles.

Andrew Cashner quieted the NL’s top-hitting lineup, Jonathan Lucroy and Rougned Odor homered, and the Texas Rangers beat the sloppy Nationals 5-2 on Friday night.

Texas took advantage of three errors, two by shortstop Trea Turner, and won for just the fourth time in 15 games.

“We didn’t play very well on defense,” Nationals manager Dusty Baker said. “We usually don’t make those. It wasn’t a very good day at the ballpark.”

Cashner (3-5) allowed one run and six hits in seven innings. The NL East-leading Nationals began the day topping the league in runs, homers, batting and slugging.

“Our rotation needed a performance like this,” said Rangers manager Jeff Banister after his struggling squad opened a sixgame road trip with a win.

Cashner, who gave up five earned runs in two of his previous three starts, struck out four and

Texas’ Andrew Cashner delivers during the first inning of the Rangers’ game against the Washington Nationals on Friday in Washington. walked two. Lucroy had three of the Rangers’ 13 hits, including a two-run homer and RBI single. Odor’s solo homer in the seventh came on the final pitch from Roark (6-3).

The Rangers face Houston, owners of the best record in the majors, after two more games against the NL leaders.

“It’s always important to get a win, and it’s even more important with the two teams we’re facing this road trip,” Lucroy said.

Matt Bush entered with two runners on in the ninth and allowed Stephen Drew’s pinch-hit RBI single, but recorded two outs for his seventh save.

Roark allowed five runs, only two of them earned, and 11 hits.

Anthony Rendon hit an RBI single in the sixth that pulled Washington Nick Wass / The Associated Press

within 4-1. Odor homered leading off the seventh. Lucroy’s homer came with two outs in the fifth. Both runs on the homer were unearned after first baseman Ryan Zimmerman’s error on a hard-hit grounder by leadoff batter Shin-Soo Choo.