The move makes room for Brady House on the 40-man roster. Yepez almost made the Nationals out of spring training, but the team picked José Tena over him then. The 27-year-old had since hit .199/.273/.301 in Triple-A, suggesting that the Nationals weren’t missing much. He should clear waivers.

Yepez entered spring training with a decent shot at making Washington’s season-opening roster, but the final spot winds up going to José Tena instead. The 27-year-old will head back to the minors, but should be an option at some point in the near future.

Yepez drew a walk in the first inning, then later took George Soriano deep for a solo homer in the eighth to give the Nationals an insurance run. It was Yepez’s sixth home run of the season while slashing .284/.340/.443 with 22 RBI across 203 plate appearances.