Instant Analysis: Nats 13, Orioles 3
Behind a dominant start from Cade Cavalli and an offensive onslaught led by Keibert Ruiz, the Nationals finally reached the .500 mark
It happened. It finally happened. By trouncing the Orioles this afternoon, the Nationals improved to 23-23, ending an insufferable, 15-game, two-year-long streak of losses when a win would’ve lifted them to a .500 record.
Behind a dominant start from Cade Cavalli and a late onslaught of offense that put the game away, the Nats dispatched Baltimore before a sellout crowd of 40,559 on Alex Ovechkin Bobblehead Day.
They jumped out to a 4-0 lead after three innings, thanks to a three-run blast by Keibert Ruiz (his third homer in five games) and doubles by James Wood and CJ Abrams. But their inability to add on despite loading the bases with nobody out in the fifth loomed large for much of the afternoon.
Cavalli didn’t need any run support most of his start. The right-hander cruised through six scoreless innings, striking out eight and giving himself a chance to return to pitch the seventh. He promptly served up back-to-back homers, and reliever PJ Poulin then allowed an inherited runner to score, turning a 4-0 lead into a 4-3 nailbiter.
No problem, because the Nationals offense came right back and put an end to any thought of a comeback with a seven-spot in the bottom of the seventh. Brady House delivered an RBI double, then narrowly beat a tag at the plate to score another run. Ruiz added a two-run single to give him five RBI in the game. And Jacob Young and House put final stamps on this one with a three-run homer and a two-run homer, respectively, leaving the sellout crowd giddy as the home team finally made the most of an opportunity to reach the .500 mark.
HITTING HIGHLIGHT: What’s gotten into Ruiz? And can he somehow manage to keep this up? For the third time in his last five games played, the offensively challenged catcher homered. This was an especially meaningful one, a three-run blast into the right-field bullpen off Chris Bassitt to give the Nationals the early lead. Then he doubled in the sixth inning. Then he singled home two key insurance runs in the seventh, setting a career-high with 5 RBI and leaving himself a triple shy of the cycle. Oh, did we also mention he successfully stole a base and successfully stole a strike three call with an ABS challenge? Who had all of that on their Keibert Ruiz bingo card for the day?
PITCHING HIGHLIGHT: After a dud against the Twins and then an erratic start against the Marlins, this was Cavalli back in peak form. The right-hander struck out eight and didn’t walk a batter, his fastball topping out at 99 mph. He was in control and was efficient enough to complete the sixth inning on 79 pitches, convincing Blake Butera to let him take the mound for the seventh for only the second time in his 21 career MLB starts. And then it quickly went south, with Samuel Bassalo and Tyler O’Neill clubbing back-to-back homers to begin the inning, Leody Taveras reaching on an infield single and Cody Mayo nearly tying the game with a homer of his own that just hooked to the side of the left-field foul pole. That shaky finish shouldn’t erase all the good Cavalli did prior to that point, though. He was electric today.
NOTABLE: This was the first game José Tena has started in the field this season, and the first time he’s appeared at third base at all this year. He started a nice 5-4-3 double play in the second inning but couldn’t make a tough play on Taylor Ward’s hot shot to his left in the seventh, a single that cut the Nationals’ lead to one run.
UP NEXT: The Nats will go for the weekend sweep (and a winning record) Sunday at 1:35 p.m. Miles Mikolas is the scheduled starter (if they don’t use an opener), with fellow right-hander Brandon Young on the mound for the Orioles. TV: Nationals TV RADIO: 106.7 FM
As of the moment (Atlanta just getting started against Boston), the Nationals, by twelve runs, are the highest scoring team in baseball.
That's just astonishing.
The Nats ended up scoring a ton of runs, but until the bottom of the 7th this was really a pitching and defense game, and the defense was very good. As was the pitching.
Lile made a great sliding catch in foul territory, the kind I don’t think he makes any other way. C.J. made a diving stop, got to his feet, and threw a seed to first. And Jacob Young, who we basically assume will catch anything he gets to, climbed the wall to take away another hit. Ho hum.
Cavalli was excellent too: 6 1/3 innings, 8 Ks, 0 BB.
It’s now the third straight game without an error, and that’s worth noticing. They’ve been putting in a lot of extra work before games to clean up the defense, and maybe we’re finally seeing some results.
So even with a 13–3 final, most of this game was built on pitching and defense.