The Nats beat the Twins 7-5 on Thursday afternoon for their first home series victory of the series. Mark & Al have plenty of praise for Keibert Ruiz, who doubled twice and broke a late tie with a solo homer in the bottom of 7th. Ruiz's OPS rose an astonishing .127 points in  single day.

(10:30) Breaking down the Nationals catching situation after back to back days of rare offensive production from that position.

(18:00) Curtis Mead knocked in a pair of runs while hitting 3rd in the lineup.

(20:05) The victory masked Jake Irvin's so-so outing on Thursday.  Irvin allowed eight hits and four runs in just innings of work as his ERA is a concerning 5.22.

(23:00) Multiple instances of good defense by the Nats in this game.

(27:20) Gus Varland notched his 4th save of the season to extend his team lead in that category.

(30:30) Washington heads to Miami for a three game set over the weekend.  Foster Griffin will start on Friday as the team enters the road trip at two games below .500. 

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