At a certain point in tonight’s game, the Washington Nationals had a seven run lead and I found myself genuinely enjoying a Nats performance for the first time in a few weeks. Of course, the moment I said that, the Reds scored five runs and made it a close ballgame. But I should have seen that one coming.
The Nats totally flipped the script from yesterday’s game against the Padres where they fell behind big in the first inning. The Nationals saw what was done to them yesterday and did just that to Reds’ starter Brady Singer in the first inning tonight. James Wood officially announced the end of his slump with an RBI double to put the Nats in front, but the major blow in the inning was off the bat of the rookie Daylen Lile. He got an opportunity with the bases loaded and ripped a hard grounder past the first baseman and into the right field corner for a bases-clearing three-run triple to make it a 4-0 ballgame in the first.
Things picked right back up in the bottom of the third as Josh Bell worked a phenomenal seven pitch at-bat, and capped it off by smashing a ball 403 feet into the right field seats to make it 5-0. The Nats would knock Singer out of the game one out into this inning, and added some damage on against Lyon Richardson before he could complete the frame. With two outs, Riley Adams picked up an RBI double, and Jacob Young added an RBI single to make it 7-0 Nats after three.
Then, just as things appeared they couldn’t be going better for the Nats, Jake Irvin, who was excellent in the first three innings, completely imploded. Two straight walks to lead off the top of the fourth set the table for the Reds, who capitalized in a big way. The next four batters all picked up RBI singles, Gavin Lux, Spencer Steer, Noelvi Marte, and Jake Fraley. They then got one more in the inning on a ground ball by Jose Trevino, and just like that it was 7-5, and Irvin’s day was done. Not the ideal start to the series for either pitching staff, as neither starter made it four innings. Kudos to interim-manager Miguel Cairo for yanking Irvin before he squandered the entire lead.
- Brady Singer: 2.1 innings, 5 hits, 7 runs (all earned), 2 walks, 1 strikeout, 57 pitches
- Jake Irvin: 3.2 innings, 6 hits, 5 runs (all earned), 3 walks, 1 strikeout, 72 pitches
The Nats’ offense got right back on it in the fourth, with James Wood getting his second double of the night, followed by walks to Josh Bell and Nathaniel Lowe. Unfortunately, a Brady House sacrifice fly would be all they’d get in the inning, and the lead would sit at 8-5 after four.
It was a very back and forth game throughout the early parts of the night, including in the fifth as the Reds got that run right back against Cole Henry via an RBI single from Noelvi Marte (although that run was charged to Mason Thompson). It’s been an extremly offensive game to this point but the Nats’ bullpen deserves some credit, they buckled down and threw four innings of one-run ball to close this one out, allowing it to be a feel good win for the offense.
The Nats’ bats got their final two runs across the plate in the bottom of the sixth with a two-out rally punctuated by an RBI double by Amed Rosario and another RBI single from Jacob Young.
The Reds did pick up two runs in the ninth off Kyle Finnegan 0n an RBI single by Gavin Lux and Elly De La Cruz scored on a wild pitch, but 10-8 would be the final score in the first game of this three-game set.
As I said earlier, credit to the back end of the Nats’ bullpen, Cole Henry, Andrew Chafin, Luis Garcia, and Jose A. Ferrer, who came into what was a slugfest early, and all put up scoreless innings to lock this one down. Kyle Finnegan would handle the ninth, but did allow two runs before putting this one in the books.
Moving onto the offensive positives from tonight’s game, and there are plenty of shoutouts to go around. We saw seven out of the nine starters record at least one hit tonight, with the two exceptions being CJ Abrams and Nathaniel Lowe. For Abrams, he did get on base once tonight with a first inning walk, and scored a run so he did find a way to make an impact. Lowe walked three times tonight in five at-bats, so while he didn’t find his way to a knock, he was on the basepaths constantly.
The Nats got three hit nights from Brady House and Jacob Young tonight. And both made every play tonight, and as usual make the tough plays look routine. Young specifically is 9-for-his-last-22 at the plate, doing an excellent job lately at the bottom of the lineup. We also saw two hit nights from James Wood, Josh Bell, and Daylen Lile en route to a 15-hit, 10-run outburst from the Nationals tonight.
“He was swinging in the strike zone and short to the ball. … Today he made really good decisions.”
— Miguel Cairo said about James Wood
As fun as tonight was to watch the boys hit the ball around the yard, the best thing about baseball is that there’s always tomorrow. We’ll get underway at 6:45 again tomorrow night with a fun pitching matchup for you, Chase Burns (0-1, 6.19 ERA) the rookie flamethrowing sensation, will get the ball for the Reds in his fifth career start, presenting a unique challenge for the Nats’ hitters. He’ll be opposed by Brad Lord (2-5, 3.46), who is being elevated back into the rotation after a few months of dominating out of the bullpen. It remains to be seen how far Miguel Cairo will let him go, but if he can stay as effective as he’s been, the Nats should have a chance to clinch a series win tomorrow night.
