Nationals 8, White Sox 7
WASHINGTON -- Jayson Werth and Adam LaRoche hit two-run homers in the sixth against Chicago starter Jake Peavy to make it 6-2 and LaRoche added another homer in the eighth as the Washington Nationals beat the White Sox 8-7 on Tuesday before 24,412 fans.
Paul Konerko of the White Sox hit a three-run homer in the seventh against Washington reliever Tyler Clippard to make it 6-5 but the Washington bullpen of Drew Storen in the eighth and Rafael Soriano in the ninth closed out the win although Alex Rios hit a two-run homer in the ninth to make it 8-7.
It was the fourth game in a row with a homer for Rios.
It was the 58th interleague homer for Konerko, who is ranked second behind Jim Thome (64) for the all-time lead in that category.
The Nationals (5-3) are now 4-0 at home while the White Sox (4-3) lost the first interleague game of the season for both teams. Every White Sox game has been decided by three runs or less.
Werth had an RBI single to left in the seventh against reliever Matt Lindstrom to score Steve Lombardozzi, who drew a one-out walk as a pinch-hitter, to make the score 7-5.
LaRoche, hitless in his first 15 at bats this year, hit his second homer of the game in the eighth against reliever Matt Thornton to make it 8-5. He fanned in his first two at bats.
Werth broke a tie with a two-run homer to left against Peavy (1-1) to give the Nationals a 4-2 lead in the sixth.
Denard Span led off with a hustle double down the right field line and then coasted home on the third longball of the year by Werth, who missed 75 games last year after he fractured his left wrist while making a diving catch May 6 against the Phillies.
Ryan Zimmerman then walked with one out and LaRoche followed with a two-run homer to make the score 6-2. It was the first hit of the season for LaRoche, who did not play in the previous two games due to back problems.
Peavy went five and 1/3 innings and allowed six earned runs and three homers with seven strikeouts.
The White Sox had tied the game at 2-2 in the sixth as reliever Craig Stammen (2-0) came in to pitch for the Nationals. Rios led off with a single, stole second and went to third on a throwing error by catcher Wilson Ramos. Rios then scored as Konerko hit a sacrifice fly to center.
Nate Jones came on to replace Peavy after the second homer by LaRoche in the sixth.
The Nationals took a 2-1 lead off Peavy in the bottom of the fifth when Ian Desmond led off with a home run to left that landed in the back of the White Sox bullpen. Desmond hit the game-winning homer in the 11th inning Saturday at Cincinnati.
The White Sox grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first. Jeff Keppinger snapped out of an 0-for-19 slump with a one-out single and later scored on a two-out balk with the bases loaded. Gonzalez got out of more trouble when he got Alexei Ramirez to line out to center field with runners on second and third to end the inning.
Nationals center fielder Denard Span led off the fourth with a single and went to third on the second single of the game by Harper, who entered the game hitting .360. Span then scored on Ryan Zimmerman's sacrifice fly to right field, making it 1-1.
Gonzalez went five innings and allowed one run on four hits while striking out seven. He left after throwing 99 pitches.
NOTES: The White Sox training staff looked at the left wrist of Gordon Beckham after he struck out swinging in the second. Beckham returned to second base in the bottom of the second, but Angel Sanchez took his spot in the field in the third. The team subsequently announced that Beckham is day-to-day due to nerve irritation in the wrist. ... With his seventh strikeout of the game, Peavy passed Rudy May for 100th on the all-time list with 1,760. ... The White Sox were without pitching coach Don Cooper, who was taken to a Northern Virginia hospital on Tuesday with diverticulitis. Cooper could be back Wednesday, White Sox manager Robin Ventura said before the game. Bullpen coach Bobby Thigpen filled in as pitching coach with bullpen catcher Mark Salas working as the bullpen coach. ... Adam Dunn, who played for the Nationals in 2009-10, was not in the White Sox's starting lineup. "I loved every single day I was here," he said. Ventura said Dunn could be in the starting lineup Wednesday as the White Sox play without a DH in the interleague series. ... The White Sox entered Tuesday 163-120 (.576) in interleague games, the second-best winning percentage behind the Yankees.
