Nationals get homers from Mead and Crews, hold Diamondbacks to 2 hits in 6-1 victory

PHOENIX (AP) — Curtis Mead launched a two-run homer in the first inning, Dylan Crews also went deep and the Washington Nationals held the Arizona Diamondbacks to two hits Saturday in a 6-1 victory.

Nasim Nuñez drove in two runs and Crews scored twice for the Nationals (33-32), who improved to 21-12 away from home. Only the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves have more road wins, with 23.

Washington starter Zack Littell (6-4) pitched five effective innings. He didn’t allow a hit until the fifth, when Pavin Smith led off with a single. Smith scored on LuJames Groover's single, the first major league hit and RBI for the Arizona first baseman playing in his second career game.

Littell walked one and struck out four. Brad Lord worked two innings for his first big league save. A trio of Nationals relievers combined for four hitless innings.

Arizona left-hander Eduardo Rodríguez (5-2), looking for his 100th career win, got off to a bad start when James Wood singled leading off the game and Mead followed with his ninth homer, a drive to left-center.

Rodríguez settled in after that, giving up just two hits over the next five innings, until Crews led off the seventh with his second homer of the season. After Jacob Young tripled one out later, Rodríguez was relieved by Juan Morillo, and Nuñez’s squeeze bunt brought home Young to make it 4-1.

Nuñez also singled home a run in the ninth and stole his 23rd base of the season; he entered Saturday tied for the MLB lead with Cleveland's José Ramírez and Kansas City's Bobby Witt Jr.

Rodríguez was charged with four runs over 6 1/3 innings. He gave up six hits, walked one and struck out five in losing for the first time since April 26.

Washington RHP Cade Cavalli (3-3, 3.62 ERA) opposes RHP Michael Soroka (7-3, 3.49) in Sunday’s series finale.

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Washington Nationals pitcher Zack Littell throws against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 6, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Washington Nationals catcher Keibert Ruiz, left, and pitcher Brad Lord, right, celebrate after their team defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks in a baseball game, Saturday, June 6, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Washington Nationals' Dylan Crews celebrates with Daylen Lile (4) after hitting a solo home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the seventh inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 6, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Washington Nationals' Dylan Crews scores a run against the Arizona Diamondbacks on a ball hit by Nasim Nuñez in the ninth inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 6, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Washington Nationals' Curtis Mead hits a two-run home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 6, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement outside a New Jersey immigration detention center since late May have become the latest flashpoint for protests against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

More than 80 people have been arrested following a series of protests at Delaney Hall in Newark, where demonstrators say they are showing up in solidarity with detainees over accusations of poor living conditions.

The Trump administration has defended the treatment of detainees at the 1,000-bed facility.

Here's what to know:

The facility is owned by Geo Group, a private prison contractor that runs multiple detention centers across the country.

Detainees launched a hunger strike last month, according Cosecha, an immigrant advocacy group. They issued a number of handwritten letters from inside with their demands, including improved living conditions and better medical care, as they say some are being denied medication.

Detainees across the country have alleged medical neglect for serious and chronic conditions, and they have announced hunger strikes at other facilities.

The Delaney Hall detainees say they are being given moldy and expired food, some of it with maggots, and are housed in overcrowded cells that lack air conditioning. Democratic members of Congress from New York City visited the facility early in the protests and said the detainees' accounts are credible.

President Donald Trump and his deputies have defended the center’s operations and denied there is any hunger strike, abuse or poor conditions inside.

“The fact is, we’re giving them the calories they want,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said recently. “This isn’t Holiday Inn.”

Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, praised the food after a recent visit. “The spaghetti was good,” he told CBS News.

GEO Group has dismissed the criticisms as “a politically motivated campaign by outside groups to dismantle ICE and federal immigration detention by targeting the government’s facility contractors.”

The protesters, some wearing gas masks and helmets, have used traffic cones, trash cans and other items as makeshift shields, and they tried to block vehicles from entering or leaving the facility.

Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche shared images online of bloody wounds and bruises sustained by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Videos on social media show officers in riot gear deploying tear gas and using batons to beat back the demonstrators. Some videos have shown police on horseback marching into the crowds.

On Friday night, ICE officers arrested four on charges of assaulting law enforcement officers, obstruction and threats, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said on X. Newark police, meanwhile, said they a Seattle man was charged with criminal mischief for smashing car windows.

“No one has the right to come into our city, destroy personal property, or incite violence,” Newark Public Safety Director Emanuel Miranda posted on social media. “Think twice before coming to Newark with any other agenda than to protest peacefully.”

One law enforcement official was charged with stealing $10,000 worth of camera equipment from an Associated Press photojournalist who had been injured while covering the standoff. The journalist, Angelina Katsanis, was struck in the knee by a wood beam during a clash between police and demonstrators. She sought medical attention and used a geo-tracking device to trace her missing gear to his home, the state’s attorney general said Thursday.

Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill was initially reluctant to intervene in the growing protests. But as the violence intensified, she declared the situation had “grown unsafe” and “unacceptable” and called in the state police to restore order.

State troopers set up designated protest zones and vehicle checkpoints as ICE officers who had been stationed in front of the detention center agreed to stand down.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, meanwhile, imposed a 9 p.m. curfew and sent in city police to enforce it.

But just a week later, the Democrat said the city would scale back its police presence, saying arrests had dropped and he was reluctant to continue spending tax dollars to guard a privately owned facility.

The state’s attorney general filed a lawsuit this week against Geo Group, alleging that the facility denied state health inspectors “full access” to investigate allegations.

Anti-ICE protesters disperse during clashes with law enforcement officers outside the Delaney Hall detention center on Saturday, May 30, 2026, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)