The lead
May 7, 2026 - Washington, D.C. - The Washington Nationals needed every barrel Keibert Ruiz could find. Ruiz homered, doubled twice, and drove in four runs during a 7-5 win over the Minnesota Twins that featured lead changes, baserunning regrets for the visitors, and a four-out save for Gus Varland, per the Associated Press recap on ESPN.
PJ Poulin (3-0) earned the win in relief after Ryan Jeffers’ solo homer had tied the contest late.
How the game turned
Minnesota opened the scoring on Brooks Lee’s two-run single in the second, but Kody Clemens was thrown out at the plate on Tristan Gray’s fly ball—a Jacob Young throw from center that started an evening of Twins mistakes.
Washington tied the game when Ruiz doubled home Jacob Young and scored on Nasim Nuñez’s sac fly. Luke Keaschall and Matt Wallner let Curtis Mead’s popup drop later in the game, gifting another run, and Ruiz eventually snapped a 5-5 tie with a solo shot off John Klein (0-1) in the seventh before Mead added an RBI single.
Orlando Ribalta struck out Byron Buxton with the bases loaded to keep a one-run edge in the sixth; Josh Bell tied it briefly with a pinch-hit RBI double in the seventh before Ruiz answered.
Pitching and matchup notes
Both rotations gave way to leverage arms early; Varland’s four-out save—his fourth—stopped the bleeding once Minnesota threatened again.
Bats that changed the board
Jeffers homered and Lee sparked the early rally, but Ruiz’s extra bases tilted the night—14 hitting FP on AthX Engine’s May 7 board for Washington’s catcher.
AthX Engine fantasy angle
The Nationals posted 12 AthX Engine team FP on May 7—not the slate’s highest total, but Ruiz’s hitter line explains how a 7-5 track meet still climbs individual leaderboards. AthX Engine scoring remains separate from dynamic pricing.
What comes next
Washington heads to Miami with Foster Griffin on the bump in the AP lookahead; Minnesota opens at Cleveland with Connor Prielipp and Parker Messick in a divisional weekend set.
*Sources: MLB.com schedule, ESPN recap, Associated Press via ESPN, and AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*
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