Sunday’s series finale with the Arizona Diamondbacks in Chase Field was stuck at 0-0 until the top of the eighth inning, when pinch hitter Yadiel Hernández stepped in against righty Stefan Crighton and hit a 1-0 sinker outside out the other way for a line drive homer to left field that cleared the low fence and landed in the bullpen beyond the outfield wall.
Hernández hit in the pitcher’s spot, though starter Erick Fedde, who tossed seven scoreless to that point, lobbied to stay in the game.
“Obviously he knows we had to pinch hit for him, but he did really well, and he understood,” manager Davey Martinez told reporters after Washington’s 3-0 win in the finale of the three-game set.