WASHINGTON (Interstat) — The Washington Nationals erupted for seven runs in the eighth inning Wednesday night, turning a competitive game into a 15-2 rout of the Minnesota Twins at Nationals Park.

CJ Abrams capped the decisive frame with a grand slam, his ninth home run of the season, and finished 3-for-5 with five RBIs to lead Washington to its second straight victory after losing the series opener. The Nationals improved to 17-20 while the Twins dropped to 16-21.

After Minnesota took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth on Matt Wallner’s solo home run, the Nationals answered immediately. Drew Millas hit his first home run of the season, a two-run shot in the bottom of the fifth that gave Washington a 3-2 advantage. The Nationals never trailed again.

Bailey Ober started for Minnesota and allowed six hits and five earned runs over five innings, striking out three and walking one. He took the loss, falling to 3-2. Miles Mikolas earned the win for Washington, working 5⅓ innings and allowing three hits and two earned runs while striking out three. Mikolas improved to 1-3.

The game remained close until the sixth, when Washington pushed across three runs to extend its lead to 6-2. Brady House doubled home Abrams, and José Tena doubled home House. Nasim Nuñez then tripled to score Tena.

In the seventh, House hit a two-run homer, his fifth of the season, to make it 8-2.

The eighth inning turned the contest into a blowout. With the bases loaded and one out, Abrams drove a pitch to right-center field for a grand slam, scoring James Wood, Daylen Lile and Curtis Mead. The blast gave Washington a 14-2 lead. Two batters later, Tena added a solo homer, his second of the season, to cap the scoring at 15-2.

Washington finished with 14 hits, including five doubles, a triple and four home runs. Abrams led the way with three hits, while House, Tena, Millas and Wood each had two. James Wood drove in two runs with a single in the eighth and finished 2-for-4.

Minnesota managed only three hits, two of them by Wallner, who homered in the fifth and doubled in the third. Luke Keaschall also doubled for the Twins, who scored their only runs in the third and fifth innings. In the third, Keaschall doubled and scored on a single by Wallner. In the fifth, Wallner homered to left-center.

The Twins, who had beaten Washington 11-3 the previous night, could not replicate that production. Minnesota’s offense has been inconsistent lately, having lost seven of their previous nine games entering Wednesday. The series finale is Thursday at Nationals Park before the Twins travel to Cleveland for a three-game set.

Washington relievers Mitchell Parker and Zak Kent combined for 3⅔ scoreless innings. Parker threw 2⅔ hitless frames with two strikeouts, and Kent tossed a perfect ninth with one strikeout. The Nationals bullpen did not allow a baserunner after Mikolas exited in the sixth.

Defensively, the Twins committed one error in the ninth inning, a throwing miscue by Kent that allowed Brooks Lee to reach base, but the Nationals quickly erased the threat on a flyout and a groundout to end the game.

The game drew an announced attendance of 17,444 and lasted 2 hours, 34 minutes.

Minnesota starter Ober had won his previous two decisions before Wednesday’s loss. He worked efficiently through the first three innings, allowing only a walk and no hits. But the Nationals broke through in the fourth when Wood singled and later scored on Abrams’ double, tying the game at 1-1.

Abrams, who had been 1-for-11 with one RBI in his previous three games, rebounded with his best outing of the week. He doubled in the fourth and again in the sixth before his grand slam in the eighth. His five RBIs matched his season high.

On the season, Washington has now won four of its last six games after dropping two of three to Milwaukee over the weekend. The Nationals will host the Twins again Thursday before heading to Miami for a three-game series.

Minnesota, meanwhile, has lost four of its last five overall and continues to struggle offensively. The Twins’ three hits Wednesday were their fewest in a game since April 14, when they were held to two hits in a 6-0 win over Boston.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Washington 5, Minnesota 2. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Minnesota with a 50.10 percent probability to win. Minnesota had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total of 17 runs went under the over-under line of 9.5.