The Washington Nationals squeaked out of yesterday’s game with a win. Finally, BABIP was on the side of the Washington Nationals in the 4-3 final. Mitchell Parker earned his second win, and Kyle Finnegan notched his second save. The game ended on a caught-stealing, a first in Nats’ history to see a game end that way.
The Diamondbacks put 28 balls-in-play with only five hits on the day and just two strikeouts. They actually had more walks than hits as they worked six freebies and reached once on an error. In the ninth inning, it started with the dreaded LoW followed by a wild pitch then Finnegan was late to cover first base on a harmless grounder to Nathaniel Lowe at first base — that put the tying run on-base until Alek Thomas was caught-stealing on a bullet thrown by catcher Riley Adams.
There were no home runs in Saturday’s game — however, that did not stop James Wood from saving a ball headed into the visitor’s bullpen. The bottom of that inning saw Wood hit a double off the wall in center field to drive in two. Alex Call had the other two RBIs in this one en route to a 2-for-4 game.
We spoke yesterday on the value of a singular run in close games. When you win by one-run, that concept becomes more apparent. But the Nats made mistakes in a throwing error and not properly covering a base. The Nats were fortunate, and mostly because BABIP turned in their favor in this game. Can we say, “It’s about time?”
“As I always say, ‘One more than the other guys always works.’ We hung in there.”
— said Martinez
For today’s game, the Nationals enter with a 2-6 record and have a chance to win this series. They will go with Trevor Williams as the starter, and the Diamondbacks have Corbin Burnes on the mound.
The Nats still need to decide how they will piece together their rotation for the 3-game Dodgers series that begins tomorrow at Nationals Park. With Michael Soroka‘s bicep strain, the Nats will have to decide who takes his spot in the rotation. It most likely will be Brad Lord, however, Martinez would not commit to naming him at this point. The Nats have a day-off on Thursday ahead of flying to Miami for a weekend series next week, and an opportunity to re-seed their rotation.
“We were executing pitches, and forcing them to do what we wanted to do with the pitches we were giving them. Getting soft contact and just using our fielders behind us.”
— Parker said
The Nats starting pitchers have a combined ERA of 3.53 and 11th best in MLB. The reliever’s ERA sits at a poor 7.09 and must improve.
Here is how they rank by ERA in the first time through the rotation:
No. 5 Starter: Trevor Williams 5.40
No. 4 Starter: Michael Soroka 7.20
No. 3 Starter: Mitchell Parker 0.73
No. 2 Starter: Jake Irvin 5.40
No. 1 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 2.45
Washington Nationals vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 1:35 pm EDT
TV: MASN2
Radio: 106.7 The Fan radio and via the MLB app; In Spanish on DC 87.7 FM and La Pantera 100.7 FM/1220 AM. On Sirius/XM, tune to Channel 178 for the home broadcast and the road team is online only.
Line-up subject to change (without notice):
