Cleveland Guardians' Carlos Santana hits a single during the ninth inning in the first baseball game of a doubleheader against the Washington Nationals, Tuesday, May 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr.)

WASHINGTON — Carlos Santana broke a scoreless tie with a three-run homer in the sixth inning and started a late onslaught by the Cleveland Guardians, who beat the Washington Nationals 9-1 on Tuesday night to split a doubleheader.

Daniel Schneemann and Austin Hedges also went deep for the Guardians, who scored 18 runs in the twinbill but lost the opener, 10-9. Cleveland has won six of eight.

Ben Lively (2-2) gave up a solo homer to Riley Adams, one of two hits he allowed over 5 1/3 innings.

Brad Lord (1-4) pitched a career-high six innings for Washington and was working on a shutout before Santana turned on an 0-2 fastball and sent it into the bullpen in right field with two outs in the sixth.

Steven Kwan’s RBI double capped a three-run seventh, Schneemann hit a two-run homer in the eighth and Hedges added a solo shot in the ninth.

The Nationals threw four wild pitches, two by Eduardo Salazar and one each by Lucas Sims and Jackson Rutledge.

KEY MOMENT

Jose Ramirez drew a two-out walk that moved Kwan to second base before Santana’s 397-foot drive.

GAME ONE

Jose Tena hit a go-ahead, two-run double during a wild seventh inning, and the Washington Nationals rallied to beat the Cleveland Guardians 10-9 in the opener of a doubleheader on Tuesday after blowing a four-run lead in the top of the frame.

James Wood hit a 114.6 mph line drive into the Washington bullpen in the third inning, the 10th homer of the season for the Nationals’ second-year slugger. The two-run shot made it 3-2 in the first of two Washington rallies.

The Nationals were ahead 6-2 in the seventh when reliever Jose A. Ferrer allowed five of six batters to reach. Jhonkensy Noel started the Guardians’ surge with a pinch-hit RBI double. Cleveland went ahead 7-6 on a two-run single by Gabriel Arias, and Angel Martinez added an RBI infield hit.

Washington then scored four against Cade Smith (1-1) in the bottom half. Keibert Ruiz hit an RBI single and Dylan Crews broke out of a slump with a double that made it 8-all before Tena’s decisive double.

Jorge López (5-0) got two outs in the seventh and worked a scoreless eighth. Kyle Finnegan allowed a sacrifice fly to Arias in the ninth but closed it out for his 12th save.

Nationals starter Jake Irvin struggled with his command early but got through 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits with three walks.

UP NEXT

Guardians left-hander Logan Allen (1-2, 4.02 ERA) is scheduled to start against the Nationals’ Michael Soroka (0-1, 7.20) on Wednesday at 12:05 p.m. as the teams play their third game in a 24-hour span. Soroka hasn’t pitched since he suffered a strained biceps in his Nationals debut on March 31.