The Washington Nationals tied the bow on a 7-19 month of June this afternoon with….. their first series win this month. Look, nothing about the way they played this month should have us jumping for joy, but considering how unlikely victory seemed at times today, with the Nats bottom of the order up to bat in the 9th inning, and going up against Angels’ closer Kenley Jansen, who did not have a blown save — until today. A feel good ending to get out of June with their only series win. A happy flight back to Washington, D.C.
Starter Mitchell Parker entered today’s outing with an 8.44 ERA in the first inning of starts this season, and once again, those early woes continued today. His start this afternoon began with a 103 mph lineout, then a four-pitch walk, followed by an RBI double from Taylor Ward to give the Angels the early 1-0 lead. After walking the next batter, Parker got the next two guys out to escape any further trouble, but it confirmed that whatever is causing him to get off to rocky starts to his outings is still present and affecting him now.
The game remained fairly uneventful until the top of the fourth inning when the Nats finally got to Angels’ starter Jack Kochanowicz. A two-out walk by Nathaniel Lowe, followed by a single from Josh Bell, set the table for Brady House, who took full advantage and roped a double down the right field line to score Lowe and tie the game up.
While Mitchell Parker settled in and did his usual ‘rough first inning followed by a string of zeroes’ thing, the Nats’ offense gave him a lead to work with in the top of the fifth. It did not come without some controversy. Drew Millas led off the inning with a walk that was followed by a double from Jacob Young, forcing Kochanowicz out of the game. The Angels gave way to reliever Jose Fermin, who got CJ Abrams to ground out to a drawn-in infield, then an intentional walk to James Wood (the first of four on the day to Wood) gave Luis Garcia an opportunity with the bases loaded and one out. Garcia hit a ground ball to first baseman Nolan Schanuel, who was still playing in, and Schanuel chose to touch first base and then throw home to try and get Millas. The Nats catcher is speedy and slid in safely. Had Schanuel thrown home first for the force, he likely would have gotten the out there and had an opportunity for his catcher to get Garcia at first to end the inning with a double play. His throw to the plate was offline, allowing Jacob Young to try and score too. Catcher Logan O’Hoppe appeared to miss the tag on Young but was given the out call by home plate umpire Mark Ripperger. The Nats challenged, and it felt like everyone involved was convinced he’d be ruled safe, but it was announced the call stood, and the Nats would have to settle for a 2-1 lead.
Between innings, we got to see a sight that many Nats fans have been yearning to see for quite some time. Dave Martinez let Ripperger have it from the dugout, was ejected, and came out onto the field to keep it going. Rants and shows of frustration like those were once a calling card of Martinez, who has recently appeared to mellow out quite a bit, and during games doesn’t get upset over much of anything anymore. Those outbursts used to be his way of injecting some energy into his ballclubs when they needed it most. This month, it feels like they’ve needed it almost daily, but we hadn’t seen Martinez resort to that tactic yet all season until today.
The sixth inning bug showed up today, this time to bite Mitchell Parker. The bottom of the sixth began with a tough luck double by Taylor Ward, Brady House deflected what should have just been a single into no man’s land, allowing Ward to reach second for his third double off Parker in this game. Jo Adell scored Ward on a soft single to tie the game up at two, and after Logan O’Hoppe singled, Parker’s day was abruptly over.
- Mitchell Parker: 5 innings, 6 hits, 3 runs (all earned), 3 walks, 3 strikeouts, 76 pitches
- Jack Kochanowicz: 4 innings, 5 hits, 2 runs (all earned), 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, 63 pitches
The Nats brought in Cole Henry to try and limit the damage, and he almost got out of it altogether. The first batter he faced was Travis d’Arnaud, who grounded into a double play, putting Henry an out away from getting out of the jam. Unfortunately, it was not to be. The Angels grabbed a 3-2 lead thanks to an RBI single from Christian Moore before ending the rally.
Sometimes baseball really does feel like a game of karma. Jacob Young was denied a run on that extremely questionable call in the fifth, in the top of the seventh he found himself on base with two outs when CJ Abrams hit a pop-up towards second. Young, sprinting on contact from first base, came all the way around to score on the play when Kevin Newman lost the ball in the sun. So with a little luck, the Nationals tied it up at three and I’m sure, eased some frustration from Young.
In the bottom of the seventh it looked like the subject of my article was going to be another dud from the bullpen. The Angels took the lead right back on a wild pitch by Jose A. Ferrer, allowing Luis Rengifo to come in and score the go-ahead run.
The game remained 4-3 Halos all the way into the top of the ninth, it was the bottom of the Nats’ order that was charged with rallying against Kenley Jansen. And rally they did. Daylen Lile checked in with a lead off double, and after being bunted to third by Millas, Jacob Young singled him home with a two-strike screamer to left.
Closer, Kyle Finnegan, a man we haven’t heard from much this week, sure got his money’s worth today. After putting up a scoreless ninth inning, he had to do the same in the tenth after the Nats failed to bring the extra innings runner in to score. Finnegan came through, sending the game to the 11th.
The bottom of the Nationals’ order tied it in the ninth and in the eleventh they came through once again. Lile singled, then Drew Millas picked up his first big league hit of the season, doubling home Brady House to put the Nats ahead 5-4. They weren’t done yet, CJ Abrams put the game out of reach with a two-run triple two batters later to make it 7-4.
The hero this afternoon, well one of many, is Kyle Finnegan. He hadn’t been asked to do much at all this month, but today the closer put up zeroes in the ninth, tenth, and then the eleventh as well. The three inning performance was the longest of his career, and hopefully a major confidence boost for him as we enter the dog days of the season.
Besides Finnegan, Cole Henry earned a shoutout this afternoon, limiting the damage in the sixth inning to keep the game tight. Offensively, Daylen Lile recorded a three-hit game, and Abrams and Young both put together two-hit days for themselves. Usually intentional walks are a throwaway stat, but when you have four in one game, that’s some serious fear that you’ve struck in the opposing team’s minds as Wood joins legends Roger Maris and Barry Bonds as three of only six players in MLB history to be walked intentionally four times in one game. Wood is the youngest player in that group in baseball history.
“If you’re getting put in the same sentence as [Bonds], then it’s pretty cool, but the credit goes to guys in front of me [getting on-base].”
— James Wood said after the game
As you are witnessing, Wood is no longer Washington’s emerging superstar, he is a star and he has arrived, it was great to see an opposing team treating him like the hitter he is for once.
The youth of this team is coming through and the three most recent callups had key hits with Millas, House, and Lile making a difference.
“They came through when they needed to. It says a lot about our young players. It was a big moment for us. This one was special. I think it was a growth moment for our young players and our team.”
— manager Dave Martinez said after the game
Well this 10-day West Coast trip is over, prompting an exhale from yours truly, and the Nats will get a well deserved off day tomorrow to fly home and prepare for a three-game set at home against the Tigers beginning on Tuesday. Game one will get started at 6:45 Tuesday evening, Trevor Williams (3-9, 5.65 ERA) will get the ball, in dire need of a good outing to try and turn his season around. He’ll be opposed by Jack Flaherty (5-9, 4.80 ERA) who’s had some struggles of his own lately. The Nats will have to find some consistency at the plate this week to have a shot against the Tigers, but until then let’s re-learn what it feels like to win a series and enjoy that for a bit.
