Instant Analysis: Nats 2, Braves 1
Foster Griffin and the bullpen pitched another gem as the Nationals overcame two delays to win a waterlogged weekend series in Atlanta
ATLANTA – They battled the toughest lineup in baseball, not to mention the elements on a brutally long and wet Sunday afternoon and evening, and they emerged victorious once again to complete a most-impressive weekend.
Behind six scoreless innings from Foster Griffin, clutch hits from Nasim Nuñez and Luis García Jr. and one last escape act from their bullpen, the Nationals shut down the Braves for the second straight day to win the series and improve to .500 at the one-third mark of the season.
Richard Lovelady thought he had induced a game-ending 4-6-3 double play, but Nuñez couldn’t handle Eli White’s sharp grounder and was charged with an error, allowing one run to score. So Orlando Ribalta, summoned with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the ninth, had to strike out Chadwick Tromp and then cover first to retire Ronald Acuna Jr. on a grounder to the right side to secure the unexpected save.
After a 22-minute delay for a mid-afternoon storm that never arrived for this unusually scheduled 4:10 p.m. Sunday start, Griffin put up six zeros on 90 pitches, allowing only three hits and escaping a couple of potential jams. Nuñez delivered the only clutch hit the Nats needed to that point with an RBI single in the top of the fifth.
With the rain coming down as the sixth inning ended, Ron Kulpa’s umpiring crew allowed the top of the seventh to begin … only to call for the tarp after two pitches. By the time the grounds crew was able to spring into action, the field was too waterlogged to pull the tarp all the way across the infield, leaving the first base line a quagmire. Once the skies cleared and they were able to remove the tarp, the crew needed nearly an hour to make the infield playable again, with the game resuming at 7:35 p.m. in the top of the seventh and the Nats still clinging to a 1-0 lead.
They made it 2-0 when James Wood drew a leadoff walk, stole second and scored on García’s pinch-hit single in the eighth. They then entrusted that lead to a surprise reliever: Andrew Alvarez. Pitching three days after his four-inning save against the Mets, the rookie left-hander tossed a scoreless seventh and recorded one out in the eighth. Gus Varland finished that inning but was pulled after allowing back-to-back singles in the ninth, setting up the harrowing final sequence.
HITTING HIGHLIGHT: Who better to snap the Nationals’ 1-for-26 slump with runners in scoring positio than ... Nuñez? Yep. With runners on the corners and nobody out in the fifth, the light-hitting second baseman came up to bat. With the speedy Daylen Lile on third and Jacob Young on first, it felt like Blake Butera might put some kind of play on. Maybe a safety squeeze. Maybe a double-steal. Nope, he let Nuñez swing away, and the little guy proceeded to line a base hit to right to bring home Lile and give the Nationals a 1-0 lead.
PITCHING HIGHLIGHT: What a performance by Griffin, one day after an equally outstanding performance by Jake Irvin and Co. The left-hander came into this one on the heels of his first two subpar starts of the season, needing a bounceback. He got one, and then some. Perfectly painting the edges of the zone, he kept the Braves scoreless over six innings on 90 pitches, striking out six. He faced two jams and escaped both with aplomb, striking out Austin Riley with two on in the first and getting Michael Harris II to ground into a 6-4-3 double play with the bases loaded in the fourth. If there were any growing doubts about Griffin after his recent slide, he put those to rest today against one of the best lineups in baseball.
NOTABLE: Over their last four games, Nationals starters delivered a combined 0.78 ERA (two earned runs over 23 innings) with 25 strikeouts and three walks.
UP NEXT: The Nats head to Cleveland for a 6:10 p.m. Memorial Day series opener against the Guardians. Zack Littell is scheduled to start against right-hander Tanner Bibee. TV: Nationals TV RADIO: 106.7 FM
Felt like a playoff win. Wow.
Nats win! Nats win! Nats win!