The Washington Nationals showed their never give-up play on the field as they tied up the game 3-3 late last night, but the bullpen and a bizarre defensive play cost them another win. It was CJ Abrams as the Nats potential power hero once again as he blasted an upper deck two-run shot and then Lane Thomas went back-to-back. But one of the strangest plays you will ever see was turned in by Dom Smith as he was the cutoff man on a throw from Thomas, and Smith inexplicably gloved a ball that was on a lasered line set for Keibert Ruiz that should have been the third out, but instead was the go-ahead run and a momentum killer on the Nats.
Nats’ pitcher Trevor Williams grew up in San Diego, and the Padres were his boyhood team. He’s faced them before, but never on a Nats’ mound. Now he gets that chance, and will face Juan Soto who he has faced before as a Mets’ pitcher.
By the way, Abrams leads the Nats in RBIs with 25, and is third on the team with five home runs. Abrams is knocking in those runs from the bottom of the Nats batting order. The rub on him from the critics was that he lacked power, and he didn’t take walks. Usually when you bat down in the order they aren’t trying to walk you — rather they are trying to strike you out. Abrams went longball against his former team.
“It’s exciting. It’s fun just playing against your former teammates and friends. It didn’t go our way, but we’ll get them [Wednesday].”
— shortstop CJ Abrams said last night after the game
The Nats starters have a combined ERA of 4.40 for 16th best in MLB as they just moved behind the Yankees by 0.02.
Here is how they rank:
No. 5 Starter: Jake Irvin 5.50 ERA
No. 4 Starter: Patrick Corbin 4.47
No. 3 Starter: Trevor Williams 4.26
No. 2 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 3.88
No. 1 Starter: Josiah Gray 2.65
Here is your Baseball Savant Statcast link for the game.
San Diego Padres vs. Washington Nationals
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 7:05 pm EDT
TV: MASN2
Radio: 106.7 The Fan radio and via the MLB app
Line-up subject to change (without notice):
