Tena’s 10th-Inning Homer Lifts Nationals Past White Sox in Extras

The Washington Nationals stole Sunday’s game from the Chicago White Sox in extra innings, pulling off a 2-1 victory that felt less like a triumph and more like the Sox snatching defeat from the jaws of a hard-fought draw. In a contest that went to the 10th frame and featured more replay challenges than actual baseball drama, the Nationals’ bats finally woke up when it mattered most, while Chicago’s bullpen folded like a lawn chair in the wind.

Tena’s Clutch Blast Breaks the Stalemate

José Tena, relatively anonymous through nine innings, stepped up and delivered the decisive blow in the 10th inning with a solo home run to right-center field. It was a moment of brilliance that epitomized baseball at its most exasperating for White Sox fans: one swing, one mistake by Seranthony Domínguez, and suddenly all the grinding, all the pitching heroics from earlier in the game meant nothing. Domínguez, who had been solid, simply left one up in the zone, and Tena made him pay for it.

The Nationals had struck first in the 10th when CJ Abrams manufactured a run with a sacrifice fly to left field, driving in Daylen Lile and putting Washington up 1-0. It was the kind of clutch, smart baseball that separates winners from losers in September, except this was April. Abrams’ willingness to put the ball in play rather than chase something silly was a stark contrast to the approach we’ve seen from too many modern hitters.

Pitching Dominated Until the Wheels Fell Off

What’s genuinely baffling about this contest is that through nine innings, neither team could break through. Richard Lovelady and Paxton Schultz combined to shut down the White Sox when it counted, with Schultz ultimately earning the save by striking out Miguel Vargas with the game on the line. For Chicago, the loss falls squarely on Domínguez’s shoulders, but the truth is the entire bullpen couldn’t manufacture a run when the Nationals brought nothing but desperation to the 10th.

Tristan Peters’ RBI single in the bottom of the 10th kept things interesting briefly, scoring Derek Hill and cutting the Nationals’ lead to one. It was one last gasp from a White Sox offense that never found its rhythm, a team that seemed content to go through the motions on a Sunday afternoon rather than seize the moment.

The real frustration here isn’t the loss itself, it’s that this game devolved into a replay challenge circus that overshadowed what should have been a compelling extra-inning battle. Multiple ABS challenges cluttered what could have been a cleaner narrative. Baseball doesn’t need all this technological theatre to be interesting, yet here we are in 2026, watching more reviews than meaningful action.

Takeaways

The Nationals proved they can win games when their bats cooperate, even if they needed 10 innings to do it. The White Sox, meanwhile, showed the same inconsistency that haunts teams throughout long seasons. On Sunday at Rate Field, execution and clutch hitting prevailed over everything else. The Nationals got both. Chicago got neither. That’s the ballgame.