Toronto thwarts Nationals’ bid for 1st sweep; Lyle Overbay has 5 RBIs in 9-4 victory

Blue Jays get 4 in 1st, beat Nationals 9-4

WASHINGTON — The Toronto Blue Jays avoided the unsavory distinction of becoming the first team to be swept by the bottom-dwelling Washington Nationals, getting five RBIs from Lyle Overbay and a solid outing by Ricky Romero in a 9-4 victory Sunday.

Romero (4-3) allowed two runs over seven innings with a season-high 118 pitches, taking a little of the strain off the Blue Jays’ bullpen after extra-inning losses Friday and Saturday. Overbay’s 3-for-5 day included a middle-deck solo homer in the third as Toronto finished 4-2 on a six-game road trip.

The loss snapped a season-high four-game winning streak for the Nationals, who took the last two of three against the New York Yankees and the first two against the Blue Jays.

Washington’s young starters and hodgepodge of relievers allowed only six runs in those four games, but Shairon Martis (5-2) equaled that number in five innings of work Sunday.

Romero bailed himself out of trouble more than once, allowing at least two runners on base in four of the first five innings, but the Nationals went only 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position while he was in the game.

Romero struck out Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn back-to-back on pitches in the dirt with runners on first and second in the first inning and induced inning-ending double plays in the fifth and sixth. The only scoreboard damage against Romero came on Josh Bard’s two-run single in the second.

It helped that Washington’s No. 3 and No. 5 hitters — Zimmerman and Austin Kearns — are in competing slumps. Zimmerman went 0 for 5 to extend his skid to 0 for 17, while Kearns was 0 for 2 to put his slide at 0 for 15.

Even though Romero pitched seven innings, manager Cito Gaston still needed four relievers to finish the game. Jeremy Accardo lasted only one batter in the eighth before being removed with an injury. Brandon League finished the inning without a blemish, but Jesse Carlson allowed two runs in the ninth before giving way to Jason Frasor for the final out.

The Blue Jays scored all but one of their runs with two outs. Alex Rios and Overbay each knocked in a pair during the four-run first with singles, and Vernon Wells doubled home a run in the second.

Overbay’s homer came with one out in the third, Rios had an RBI double in the ninth, and Overbay followed with a two-run single.

NOTES: Toronto 3B Scott Rolen (2-for-4) extended his hitting streak to 11 games. … Martis, who won his first five decisions, is 0-2 in his last seven starts. … Though denied their chance for this sweep, the Nationals will get one retroactively if they win a suspended game against Houston that is scheduled to resume on July 9. Washington won the opener of that two-game series, and the second game was halted by rain on May 5 with the score tied.