Washington at Arizona

Ian Desmond sparked a four-run ninth inning with a go-ahead two-run single and the Washington Nationals defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-1 in the rubber match of a three-game set.

The Nationals seized control of the game in the ninth. Brad Ziegler (0-1) walked Denard Span, who moved to third on Anthony Rendon's double off the right-field wall with no outs. Then, Jayson Werth had an intentional walk to load the bases.

Desmond's sharp grounder to left brought Span and Rendon around to give the Nationals the lead for good. Werth and Desmond both moved up a base on Danny Espinosa's groundout and came home on Tyler Moore's single to center.

Werth also homered for the Nationals.

Tyler Clippard (4-2) struck out two in a scoreless eighth to earn the win. Starter Doug Fister surrendered one run on five hits with six strikeouts over seven innings of work.

Aaron Hill hit a home run for Arizona, while starter Brandon McCarthy surrendered one run on two hits with seven strikeouts in eight innings.

[SportsNetwork.com]