Instant Analysis: Giants 7, Nats 6 (12)
The Nationals stormed back to tie the game with two outs in the ninth but couldn't push across the winning run in extra innings
The Nationals got the early offense they needed to take a quick lead. Then they got the late offense they needed to force extra innings. But they couldn’t get one more hit (or walk) when they really needed it and still wound up losing for the seventh time in eight home games.
Brady House’s RBI single to center with two outs in the ninth brought James Wood home with the tying run a split second before Curtis Mead was thrown out at third base without sliding, sending this game to extra innings. After both teams failed to convert in painful fashion in the 10th and 11th, San Francisco finally came through in the 12th when Matt Chapman singled off Cionel Pérez for the winning run in a 7-6 game that left the crowd of 35,527 downtrodden.
The Nats jumped all over Giants starter Adrian Houser, getting a first-pitch leadoff homer from from Wood and then four more runs in the bottom of the second when Wood was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Luis García Jr. and surprise No. 3 hitter José Tena each followed with RBI singles. They nearly made it a seven-run rally, but CJ Abrams’ drive to the wall in center field came up about 1 foot short.
The extra runs would’ve been nice, because Cade Cavalli needed more support in this one. The right-hander was much more in the strike zone today but gave up three runs (one earned) on seven hits while seeing his pitch count soar to 92 in only four innings of work. Mitchell Parker entered as the long man and gave up a game-tying, two-run homer to Heliot Ramos and a go-ahead RBI single to Rafael Devers. The biggest bullpen contributor, though, was Richard Lovelady, who tossed a scoreless ninth and 10th to give his teammates a chance.
They didn’t make the most of multiple chances. The Nationals stranded the bases loaded in the 10th when Daylen Lile struck out, Nasim Nuñez struck out on an up-and-away 3-2 pitch and Jorbit Vivas grounded out to short. They stranded two more runners in the 11th when Drew Millas popped up a bunt, Mead popped out to short and Joey Wiemer struck out on a 3-2 pitch that would’ve loaded the bases for Abrams had he taken it. Lile took strike three to end the game with the tying runner on second.
HITTING LOWLIGHT: Vivas led off the bottom of the ninth with a double down the left-field line, and though he eventually was thrown out at the plate three batters later, the stage was still set for House to line an 0-2 slider from Walker into center field. Wood raced home from second with the tying run. The problem: Mead, who turned his head backward at one point and then didn’t slide into third, was tagged out behind him to deny the Nationals a shot at winning the game right there. They continued to fail to execute in extra innings, from poor bunts to poor swings on 3-2 pitches out of the zone to a potential lack of hustle by Vivas on a grounder to short in the 10th that also could have won the game.
PITCHING HIGHLIGHT: The good news: Cavalli’s command was dramatically improved today from his last start, when he threw only 24-of-48 pitches for strikes and walked three batters before getting pulled in the second inning. This time, he threw 63-of-92 pitches for strikes and didn’t issue any walks. The bad news: He might have been getting too much of the plate. The Giants made a ton of contact, fouling off a whopping 22 of his pitches. That prolonged at-bats and innings and left Cavalli unable to even reach the fifth. He was only charged with one earned run because of errors by Vivas and Lile, but this was far from an effective outing by the right-hander, who is still trying to figure things out five starts in.
NOTABLE: Cole Henry played catch today for the first time since landing on the 15-day IL on Monday. The right-hander, who has a rotator cuff strain, said he hasn’t had any issues all week and is encouraged he’ll be able to return quickly without a long rehab program.
UP NEXT: The series concludes Sunday at 1:35 p.m. Miles Mikolas is the scheduled starter, hoping to finally deliver some quality innings. Left-hander (and long-ago Nats prospect) Robbie Ray takes the mound for San Francisco. TV: Nationals TV RADIO: 106.7 FM
Probably the worst loss of the season. Great crowd, unbelievably poor performance from so many Nationals.
Terrible. Had to listen on radio….Dave JAgler lost his mind over Vivas not running out the play at full steam