WASHINGTON (Interstat) — Foster Griffin pitched seven strong innings as the Washington Nationals defeated the Houston Astros 8-2 on Wednesday night at Nationals Park. Griffin allowed five hits and one earned run while striking out nine to improve to 10-2. Spencer Arrighetti took the loss for Houston, falling to 7-5.

Washington struck first in the third inning. CJ Abrams’ sacrifice fly scored James Wood, and Daylen Lile doubled home Luis García Jr. to make it 2-0. In the fourth, García Jr. hit a three-run homer, his 20th, scoring Keibert Ruiz and Wood to extend the lead to 5-0.

Houston got on the board in the fifth on Brice Matthews’ RBI single, but Washington answered with three runs in the bottom half. Abrams led off with a solo homer, then José Tena’s groundout and a sacrifice fly by Ruiz pushed the lead to 8-1.

The Astros added a run in the eighth on Nick Allen’s RBI single, helped by an error.

Attendance was 17,760, and the game lasted 2 hours, 54 minutes. The Nationals improved to 48-46, while Houston dropped to 46-49.