CLEVELAND (AP) — James Wood hit a two-run homer and Keibert Ruiz had a two-run single in the second inning as the Washington Nationals beat the Cleveland Guardians 6-3 on Tuesday night.
Wood’s towering, 401-foot drive to right field was his 15th homer of the season and second in as many days against AL Central-leading Cleveland. Wood leads the majors with 49 runs and ranks third with 29 extra-base hits.
The Nationals won their fourth straight and improved to 19-11 on the road. Washington (29-27) has outscored the Guardians 16-5 in the series and matched its best record of the season by moving two games over .500.
Cade Cavalli (3-3) struck out seven over six innings and allowed one run on five hits. Mitchell Parker worked the final three innings, allowing a two-run single in the ninth to rookie Travis Bazzana before earning his first save of the season.
Ruiz singled in Daylen Lile and Jacob Young, then scored one batter later on Wood’s homer that extended Washington’s lead to 4-0. Cleveland got on the board in the fifth with a sacrifice fly by José Ramírez that scored Steven Kwan.
Andrés Chaparro added a two-run single that scored Nasim Nunez and Wood in the ninth off Will Dion, who made his MLB debut after being recalled earlier in the day, extending the lead to 6-1.
Guardians starter Joey Cantillo (4-2) gave up four runs in a season-low two innings, allowing eight baserunners and a career high-tying four walks with two wild pitches. Cleveland is an AL-best 14-6 since May 6.
Center fielder Daniel Schneemann robbed Washington's Curtis Mead of a two-run homer in the fourth, reaching over the fence to pull the ball back for the catch.
Nationals RHP Miles Mikolas (1-3, 6.17 ERA) faces Guardians RHP Gavin Williams (7-3, 3.25 ERA) in the series finale Wednesday.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb
Cleveland Guardians center fielder Daniel Schneemann catches a fly ball hit for an out by Washington Nationals' Curtis Mead in the fourth inning of a baseball game in Cleveland, Tuesday, May 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Washington Nationals' Cade Cavalli pitches in the first inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland, Tuesday, May 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Washington Nationals' James Wood, right, gets a high five from third base coach Victor Estevez (7) as he runs the bases after hitting a home run in the second inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland, Tuesday, May 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
PLANO, Texas (AP) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, easily defeating four-term Sen. John Cornyn in the latest contest where President Donald Trump sought to oust an incumbent he saw as not sufficiently loyal.
Trump endorsed Paxton last week. Paxton's victory in Tuesday’s runoff makes Cornyn the first Republican senator from Texas to lose the party’s nomination for reelection.
Cheers rang through the ballroom at Paxton's election night party when the race was called, as Van Halen’s “Jump” played and the stage filled with supporters holding Paxton campaign signs.
At Cornyn's watch party, the room went quiet. Cornyn moments later stood before reporters and said he will support Paxton in the general election.
“Tonight we’ve come up short,” Cornyn said. “A few years ago, I had a friend of mine say, ‘You know what makes God laugh?’ He said, ‘When we make plans.’”
“I’ve always supported the Republican ticket,” he said, “and I intend to do so again.”
Trump endorsed Paxton last week, calling him a “true MAGA warrior.” Cornyn said in 2023 as Trump was running to return to the White House that his time “has passed him by."
His loss followed defeats of incumbents in Louisiana, Indiana and Kentucky, all to Trump-backed challengers.
Cornyn’s campaign and allied groups spent roughly $109 million on advertising for the March 3 primary and Tuesday's runoff. He had the backing of Senate GOP leaders who said he would be the stronger general election candidate.
Paxton will run against state Rep. James Talarico in November.
Tuesday's runoffs also will decide Democratic U.S. House nominees for districts in Dallas and Houston that overwhelmingly support Democrats, and a San Antonio-area seat the party wants to flip.
Cornyn led Paxton in the March primary but failed to win a majority. That was after Cornyn and his supporters waged a monthslong ad campaign, mostly attacking Paxton over ethical and personal questions. The two-term attorney general was acquitted on corruption charges in a 2023 impeachment trial, where allegations of extramarital affairs surfaced. Paxton’s wife filed for divorce last year, citing “biblical grounds.”
The alliance of pro-Cornyn groups has continued its attack, outspending Paxton's campaign and two allied super PACs $16.5 million to $5.9 million since March 3, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.
Trump promised to endorse immediately after the primary but didn’t act until after early voting began last week.
“Ken Paxton has gone through a lot, in many cases, very unfairly, but he is a Fighter, and knows how to win,” Trump wrote in a social media post endorsing him.
David Jacobson, a retired 70-year-old Dallas-area resident, said Trump's endorsement was a factor in his decision to back Paxton on Tuesday. While Cornyn has for the most part been a strong Trump supporter, Jacobson generally thinks most politicians have remained in office too long.
“Maybe it’s time for a change,” he said after voting near Dallas.
Linda Williams said she voted for Cornyn, calling him “the lesser of two evils.” She thinks Cornyn has a better chance to beat Talarico this fall.
“Because Paxton is a crook," Williams said after voting in Plano, outside Dallas.
Trump, in his endorsement, poked at Cornyn, saying he “was not supportive of me when times were tough” and that “John was very late in backing me.”
Cornyn suggested in 2023 that Trump could not win the presidency again in 2024 and that his “time has passed him by.” He also was an early critic of Trump’s plan for a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico — a project he now supports.
Cornyn said Tuesday on Fox News Radio's “The Brian Kilmeade Show” that the president's ire was misplaced. There are “grifters," he said, "claiming that I am opposed to the president's agenda, and I think that’s caused some confusion with the president himself. But I’ve been supportive.”
Some GOP strategists have argued that a Paxton nomination would cost millions of dollars more to promote in the fall, when money could be spent defending Republican seats in more competitive states. Democrats need to gain a net of four seats to take the majority. Cornyn has the support of Senate GOP leaders.
Newly elected Rep. Christian Menefee defeated veteran Rep. Al Green in Texas' 18th District, dispatching a longtime House incumbent who was one of Trump's most outspoken critics. The Republican-led Texas Legislature redrew the district when it approved a new House map last year. The new map led to a runoff between incumbents and marks the end of a dizzying series of elections in the Houston area.
Former Rep. Colin Allred and U.S. Rep. Julie Johnson are competing in the Dallas-area 33rd District. Johnson was elected to the seat in 2024, the year Allred lost his U.S. Senate challenge to Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. Allred was running for Senate again this cycle but dropped his bid and instead is looking to return to the House.
Near San Antonio, Democratic leaders are trying to prevent Maureen Galindo, who has expressed antisemitic views, from winning the party's runoff with Johnny Garcia. While Texas lawmakers redrew the 35th District to help Republicans, Democrats view it as within reach and don't want Galindo's past comments to impede them.
This story has been corrected to show that voter David Jacobson is 70, not 71.
Bedayn reported from Austin, Texas. Associated Press reporter Jamie Stengle contributed from Sasche, Texas.
A workers prepares a podium during a primary runoff election night event for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in Plano, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Attendees mingle during a primary runoff election night event for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in Plano, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Mike Neal, right, 45, a canvasser for Dallas county clerk candidate Damarcus Offord, Jermaca Brown, center, 32, deputy campaign manager for Rep. Julie Johnson, D-Texas, and Sam Dalton, left, 31, a volunteer with Stonewall Democrats, stand outside the Oak Lawn Branch Library during local and primary runoff elections Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Gabriela Passos)
Candidate signs line the entrance to a polling location as voters cast ballots in local and primary runoff elections Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Gabriela Passos)
Candidate signs line the entrance to a polling location ahead of local and primary runoff elections on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Gabriela Passos)
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, speaks to supporters at a campaign event in McKinney, Texas, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, listens to State Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, during a campaign event in Lubbock, Texas, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Annie Rice)
