The Washington Nationals got blown-out on Tuesday by the Mets, and tonight the Nats returned the favor. The Nats got going early with a 2-0 lead, and never gave it up — even as things got scary at times. Cade Cavalli‘s first inning of work where he loaded the bases turned into a zero with a high 30-pitch count. He settled down as his team got him a 9-1 lead, and Cavalli went 6.0 full innings with 10 strikeouts and only two runs given up.
In the 4th inning, the Nats put the game away with a 7-run inning highlighted by a Brady House grand slam. The Nats would tack on four more runs the rest of the way, and the bullpen threw a shutout to run away with this one with two touchdowns in a 14-2 crushing of the Mets.
Every Nats starter got a hit in this game except for Keibert Ruiz. This blowout helped a few batting averages like Curtis Mead who entered the game with a .175 batting average and finished at .226 after he sprayed four hits that included a HR and a bases loaded HBP. CJ Abrams finished at 3-4 with a walk for his best game since April 16th. Abrams was in a Major funk batting .103 with a .379 OPS in that span in which he saw his WAR drop by 0.6.
Hopefully this game becomes a springboard for better things ahead. Cavalli joins a dominant stretch by the starting pitchers. If we remove Zack Littell from the equation over the past six games, the starting pitchers that included PJ Poulin as an opener put up a 1.42 ERA (4 ER/25.1 IP) with 38 strikeouts against 4 walks for a K/BB rate of 9.5:1.
“Learn on the fly and make adjustments in-game is big. That’s credit to Cade and the coaches.”
— manager Blake Butera said after the game
This is a stretch by this team where they continue to dominate on the road with an 11-7 record. The Nats are currently in third place in the NL East and will have the finale of this series tomorrow.
