Taj Bradley strikes out 11 as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Washington Nationals 5-0

“I felt like every pitch was aimed at strikes,” Bradley said.

Bradley has a sparkling 0.64 ERA (two earned runs in 28 innings) in his last five home starts.

“We threw some good splitters and we chased some balls out of the zone,” Washington manager Dave Martinez said.

Colin Poche, Jason Adam, Garrett Cleavinger and Phil Maton completed a three-hitter. The Rays finished with a season-high 16 strikeouts.

Paredes, who had two hits in 23 at bats in his previous seven games, went 3 for 4 and scored two runs. He needed a single for the cycle when he flied out to Tanner Rainey in the eighth.

“I think I put a little bit of pressure on myself at the end to get that hit,” Paredes said through an interpreter.

Only two Tampa Bay players, Evan Longoria in 2017 and BJ Upton in 2009, have completed a full cycle.

José Caballero and Randy Arozarena also homered for the Rays (42-42), who returned to the .500 mark for the 17th time. Tampa Bay hasn’t been above .500 since May 21.

Washington (39-44) went 3-6 on a nine-game trip.

Nationals’ top talent, James Wood, did not play for Triple-A Rochester on Saturday or Sunday as rumors swirl that he will make his major league debut on Monday night against the New York Mets.

“If he’s there, put him in a lineup and let him play,” Martinez said.

The 21-year-old Wood was acquired in the trade that sent Juan Soto to the San Diego Padres and is considered one of the top prospects in baseball. The 6-foot-7, 234-pound outfielder has shown impressive power in the minors.

CJ Abrams, also acquired in the Soto deal, went 1 for 2 with two walks. He hit .455 (25 for 55) in his last 15 games.

Paredes hit a home run on the first pitch of the second inning and Caballero connected for a two-run drive off Patrick Corbin (1-8) as Tampa Bay opened a 3-0 lead.

Paredes hit his second career triple and first since June 9, 2021, to start the fourth, scoring on Jose Siri’s sacrifice fly.

“Every day at BP, every time I hit a ball over the line, I always tell (manager Kevin Cash) and the coaches it’s going to be a triple and they never believed me,” Paredes said with a smile.

Arozarena hit a solo drive in the seventh inning off of Jordan Weems.

Corbin gave up four runs and eight hits in six innings.

Nationals: RHP Josiah Gray (right elbow-forearm flexor strain) allowed seven runs and six hits in three innings in his second rehab start with Triple-A Rochester and fifth minor league outing overall. He threw 43 of 73 pitches for strikes.

Nationals: LHP MacKenzie Gore (6-7, 3.60 ERA) and New York Mets LHP David Peterson (3-0, 3.67 ERA) are listed for Monday night

Rays: RHP Zack Littell (2-5, 4.17 ERA) takes on Kansas City RHP Brady Singer (4-4, 3.12 ERA) on Tuesday night.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB