Photo by Bailey Accorto for TalkNats
The Nationals, after six tries, have finally won a home series in the Blake Butera era!! The Nats had to get a little bit scrappy in this one. With an electric offensive performance by Keibert Ruiz and a stout effort from back of the bullpen, that was enough to carry the squad to a 7-5 victory this afternoon, capturing the three-game series against the Twins.
The Action
Once again, this one began with the Twins taking an early lead, not unlike the past couple of nights. Some lackluster command from Jake Irvin was good enough to get him outs, but groundballs had eyes and kept finding seams — and Irvin just couldn’t find his K pitch enough as he had just two in the game. The pitch-to-contact got him into some trouble in the top of the second inning, and Minnesota took advantage, cashing in on a two-run single by Brooks Lee to run out to the early lead. It could have been worse if not for Jacob Young sprinting in over 120 feet on a flyball and catching it and then delivering a strike to home to nail the runner on what would be a game changing double-play.
Luckily for the Nationals, similar to last night, their offense would be up to the task of responding. It took until the bottom of the third inning, but they finally broke the seal on Simeon Woods Richardson when Keibert Ruiz began what was an outstanding game for him with an RBI double. He would come around to score the tying run later on in the inning, scoring on a sacrifice fly by Nasim Nunez, who hasn’t been hitting for power, but has quietly been one of the clutchest hitters in the Washington lineup recently.
The 2-2 tie held until the top half of the fifth when the Twins struck back and retook the lead on an RBI single by Tristan Gray. Hats off to Jake Irvin though, that inning certainly could’ve been a lot more damaging, but he was able to bear down and limit the hurt to just a 3-2 deficit and keep his team in it.
That set up for a bottom of the fifth that saw the Nats’ hitters once again respond to a punch thrown by Minnesota. Keibert Ruiz put the good guys ahead with his second RBI double in as many at-bats, this one plating two runs to make it 4-3 Washington. Thanks to some poor command by reliever Anthony Banda, the Nats mounted another rally later in the inning, loading the bases for Curtis Mead, who got the job done on a groundout that forced a run into score, extending the lead to 5-3.
Jake Irvin wasn’t able to do anything with this lead. He allowed a leadoff homer to Ryan Jeffers leading off the sixth, and instantly the lead was cut in half to 5-4, and Irvin’s day was promptly over.
- Simeon Woods Richardson: 4.1 innings, 4 hits, 5 runs (5 earned), 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, 61 pitches
- Jake Irvin: 5 innings, 8 hits, 4 runs (4 earned), 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 92 pitches
Both bullpens took turns getting themselves into trouble in the later innings, and occasionally it did get them burnt. It started with the Washington bullpen in the seventh inning, as PJ Poulin surrendered a game tying RBI double to Josh Bell, but in the bottom of the inning it was Minnesota’s turn to blow the game. And who else would it be at the plate? Keibert Ruiz stepped up in the bottom of the seventh inning, already with two RBI doubles on the day, and all he did was hit his second home run of the season for his third RBI hit of the day, and more importantly giving the Nationals a 6-5 lead. They would add one more on an RBI single by Curtis Mead, and that would prove to be all they needed.
The Washington bullpen muscled up in the rubber match of this series this afternoon, as Richard Lovelady, Orlando Ribalta, and PJ Poulin combined for eight outs in relief of Irvin, and Gus Varland came on and recorded a four-out save to put this one in the books and get their first home series win of the season.
What’s Next?
The boys will hop on a plane tonight after this game and fly on down to Miami for their first meeting with the Marlins on the season. In what seems to be a bit of a cruel trend, the Nats will face a starting pitcher making his major league debut tomorrow night for the third time already this season. They’ve caught Andrew Painter of the Phillies and JR Ritchie of the Braves in their debuts already this season, and tomorrow they’ll face Robby Snelling, a highly touted left-handed pitching prospect for the Marlins. Snelling has a live arm and nasty breaking stuff, so should pose a good challenge for our offense. Washington will counter with Foster Griffin (3-1, 2.27 ERA) who, while it’s still early, is making a strong bid to be an all-star in his return season to the States, what a comeback story that would be. The three-game weekend series will get underway tomorrow night at 7:10.
Down on the Farm
AAA Rochester
6:35 game tonight at Syracuse, score and stats will be updated here tonight
AA Harrisburg
6:30 game tonight versus Erie, score and stats will be updated here tonight
High-A Wilmington
Doubleheader today at Hub City, scores and stats will be updated here tonight
Low–A Fredericksburg
6:30 game tonight at Hill City, score and stats will be updated here tonight
FCL Nats
Won 6-3 in their first game of the season
