Strikeout by Anibal Sanchez; Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats
The Nats swept the American League’s best team, and have now won four times in five games to make you wonder if this is the hot streak the Nats needed. Anibal Sanchez went five innings of shutout baseball but ran into some trouble in the 6th inning and surrendered three runs. The Nats led the whole game, and everyone contributed to this win.
A much needed day-off for the team tomorrow as several players are banged up. Once again role players like Brock Holt and Josh Harrison came through for the team.
The Nats had fifteen baserunners in a combination of four hit-by-pitches, four walks, and seven hits. Maybe the Nats should have scored more than five runs. Their RISP hitting was at .333 but they still stranded ten runners.
“We are trying to be creative to score runs,” manager Dave Martinez said. “Bunts, hit and runs, stealing bases. … Doing the little things goes a long way.”
It was the Rays who struck out twelve times in the game, and the Nats only K’d five times. The Nats put a lot of balls in-play and hit into some bad luck. Juan Soto went 1-2 with two intentional walks.
The final three innings of the game were covered by Sean Doolittle, Tanner Rainey, and Daniel Hudson. They were all excellent and Doo and Rainey had two strikeouts each in perfect innings while Hudson worked quickly to his ninth save of the season.
