Josh Harrison comes up big!; Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats
The game started in the sunshine as the tropical storm blew off to the northeast earlier than expected if you trusted the forecast that was predicted on Sunday. The Yankees postponed their game for today a day ago and did not wait to see if the storm changed its course. The Nats who had their weekend series postponed due to the Marlins’ COVID issues, and the Nats needed this game to happen to get back to real games after four days off. The Nats took advantage early to take a 5-0 lead and milk that to a narrow 5-3 nailbiter before a pop-up thunderstorm caused a 1:07 minute rain delay. The Nats bullpen bent but didn’t break and put up another zero after starter Patrick Corbin was pulled at 5 2/3 innings and exited with that 5-3 lead.
The offensive star was Howie Kendrick who went 4-4 with 1 RBI on his first home run of the season, and Josh Harrison had a 1-3 night with a sacrifice fly and 2 RBIs as he hit his first home run with the Nats. Starlin Castro and Asdrubal Cabrera each added two hits, and Carter Kieboom had the other hit in the Nats 10-hit effort.
“I love what I saw tonight with these guys,” manager Dave Martinez said. “They came out with a lot of energy.”
From the bullpen, they were the story and it was Tanner Rainey who entered with no outs and two runners on-base and he quickly retired 3-in-a-row for a huge hold in a tough situation. Javey Guerra covered the 8th inning after the rain delay, and Daniel Hudson faced the heart of the Mets order for his second save of the season.
