Major League Baseball
Houston 6, Washington 1
When: 8:10 PM ET, Wednesday, August 23, 2017
Where: Minute Maid Park, Houston, Texas
Temperature: Indoors
Umpires: Home - Jeff Kellogg, 1B - Chad Whitson, 2B - James Hoye, 3B - Tim Timmons
Attendance: 23434

HOUSTON -- As badly as the Houston Astros longed for right-hander Mike Fiers to reverse his recent slippage, they also needed a boost from an offense that has sagged over the past week.

Fiers produced his best start in more than a month and Jake Marisnick, Max Stassi and Alex Bregman clubbed home runs in the Astros' 6-1 interleague victory over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night at Minute Maid Park.

After allowing at least three runs and two homers in each of his previous four starts, Fiers (8-8) surrendered one run on four hits and one walk over seven strong innings. He struck out six.

It marked his longest outing since he worked seven innings over consecutive starts in mid-July, and Fiers did not allow a home run for only the second time in his past nine starts.

"A day like this everything was working," Fiers said. "Those guys were swinging the bat early and often, so I couldn't really make a mistake. Even guys that usually take a lot of pitches were definitely swinging early and trying to get me early. But it worked in my favor, making good pitches and getting early outs. So, it helped me go deep in the game."

Marisnick belted his 15th home run of the season with one out in the fifth inning, off Nationals right-hander Edwin Jackson (4-3). That gave the Astros (77-49) a 2-1 lead.

Stassi bashed his second homer of the season, a 442-foot solo blast to left field, off Nationals reliever Matt Grace with two outs in the eighth inning.

Three batters later, when Bregman clubbed his 16th home run, a three-run shot off righty Shawn Kelley, it marked the first time Houston had scored more than three runs in six games.

"It was huge," Bregman said of the eighth-inning outburst. "Got us some insurance runs. Some guys put together some great at-bats. Stassi (hit a) big-time homer and then Jake and (George) Springer back-to-back ABs just to extend the inning. We played a little 'pass the torch,' and I was fortunate to put a good swing on the ball and give us a good cushion."

The Nationals had their nine-game winning streak against Houston snapped. Jackson allowed two runs, six hits and three walks in six innings, and he recorded one of the Nationals' two strikeouts.

"It wasn't bad," Jackson said of his performance. "It was one of those pitchers' duels to start out the game. Tough lineup to pitch to. We kind of went back and forth, Fiers and myself. It was just one of those games where they tacked some on the end."

Fiers hadn't logged a quality start since July 21 at Baltimore, but he was the picture of efficiency early, setting the side down in order in the second after overcoming a two-out single by Daniel Murphy in the first with a fielder's choice groundout from Ryan Zimmerman.

The Nationals (75-49) managed back-to-back hits with one out in the third. With Andrew Stevenson on third base after he doubled and Howie Kendrick singled, Wilmer Difo produced a sacrifice fly to center field that gave the Nationals a 1-0 lead.

However, after a leadoff single from Zimmerman in the fourth, Fiers faced only 12 batters while completing the ensuing four innings, rolling to the close of his start with a lead.

"He was just doing a good job mixing," Stevenson said. "He had command of his stuff and kept us off balance. His fastball got on you a little quicker than normally -- 89-91 (mph) gets on you. He was in command of his stuff today."

NOTES: Astros SS Carlos Correa (left thumb) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Fresno on Thursday. Although the club hasn't determined a precise timetable for how long Correa will remain on assignment, he is expected to spend at least a week with the Grizzlies. ... Nationals RHP Ryan Madson remains in Arizona undergoing tests to determine the extent of the right finger sprain that landed him on the 10-day disabled list Aug. 17. Madson, 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in nine games for Washington, did not accompany the team on its trip to Houston from San Diego. ... With tropical depression Harvey expected to wreak havoc on the Gulf Coast this weekend, the Astros will move the rehab assignments of RHPs Lance McCullers, Will Harris and Michael Feliz, plus LHP Tony Sipp from Double-A Corpus Christi to Fresno.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Washington   Houston
Edwin Jackson Player Mike Fiers
Loss W/L Win
6.0 IP 7.0
1 Strikeouts 6
6 Hits 4
3.00 ERA 1.29
Hitting
Washington   Houston
Howie Kendrick Player Josh Reddick
2 Hits 2
0 RBI 1
0 HR 0
3 TB 3
.500 Avg .667
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Washington 6 0 8 .200 8 8 1 1 0 1
Houston 10 3 23 .303 13 2 6 5 1 0