Instant Analysis: Nats 5, Mets 4
CJ Abrams' two-run homer in the eighth gave the Nationals the lead, and the back of the bullpen hung on to complete another road series win
NEW YORK – The Nationals did everything they could to keep this game close into the late innings, hoping somebody would then come through in the clutch to beat the Mets. That’s exactly what CJ Abrams and the back end of the bullpen did.
Abrams launched a two-run homer off Luke Weaver in the top of the eighth to give the Nats a 5-4 lead. Richard Lovelady and Gus Varland then combined to record the final six outs and secure another road series win to wrap up a very encouraging opening month for the organization.
Given a chance to start without an opener in front of him for the first time in four outings, Miles Mikolas was effective for 3 2/3 of his four innings. Unfortunately, that other one-third of an inning (in the bottom of the third) came back to bite him. Mikolas issued a two-out walk to Bo Bichette, gave up a single to Juan Soto and then served up a three-run homer to MJ Melendez.
Blake Butera pulled his veteran starter after four innings and 79 pitches, turning the game over to Mitchell Parker. The lefty gave up Mark Vientos’ run-scoring double in the sixth but otherwise was solid over three innings to keep his team in the game.
The Nationals jumped out to a 3-0 lead by taking advantage of Freddy Peralta’s error on Nasim Nunez’s second-inning comebacker (on which Jorbit Vivas scored all the way from first base) and RBI singles by Jacob Young and Abrams. But they didn’t record another hit off the Mets right-hander and found themselves needing to mount a comeback against the bullpen. They pulled off that comeback, thanks to Abrams’ big blast.
HITTING HIGHLIGHT: Abrams was already having a good day with an RBI single and an eight-pitch walk. But he saved his best for last. Facing Weaver, he connected on a 2-1 changeup and sent the ball soaring to right-center field. Abrams stood at the plate and pointed to the Nationals dugout before jogging around the bases following his eighth homer of the season, this one giving his team a late lead.
PITCHING HIGHLIGHT: Parker continues to do a nice job in long relief. Though he gave up the go-ahead run today, that sixth-inning RBI double by Vientos really was his only blemish over three solid innings of work. Parker has now made five MLB appearances this season, all of them coming out of the bullpen. He has allowed six runs over 11 1/3 innings, which translates to a 4.76 ERA. That may not look great on paper, but he has pretty much done exactly what the Nationals would hope to get from him in this role.
DEFENSIVE HIGHLIGHT: Let’s show some love to James Wood, who made two spectacular catches in right field. The 6-foot-6 slugger casually retreated to the wall and jumped to rob Soto of a sure homer in the bottom of the first, his second home run robbery of the month. Four innings later, Wood came charging in and to his left to make a diving catch of Bichette’s sinking liner, which could’ve easily been a triple had the ball scooted away from him. Though the metrics still are average at best, Wood clearly looks more comfortable in right than left field this season and is helping the Nationals more than he’s hurting them in the field.
UP NEXT: The Nationals return home for a pair of three-game series, beginning this weekend when the Brewers come to town seeking revenge for the sweep in Milwaukee earlier this month. Jake Irvin is scheduled to face flame-throwing right-hander Jacob Misiorowski in Friday’s 6:45 p.m. series opener. TV: Nationals TV/FOX 5 RADIO: 106.7 FM
Won a series with Littell and Mikolas starting
Who had a 15-17 record at the end of April? There is still a long way to go, and let’s no get too far ahead of ourselves but at least this team is exciting to watch and playing with heart and effort.