ARLINGTON, Texas – Cade Cavalli continued his dominant ways on the mound. And his Nationals teammates supplied him plenty of run support along the way to give them a much-needed, feel-good win tonight over the Rangers.
On the heels of his no-hit bid against the Cubs last week in D.C., Cavalli tossed six scoreless innings tonight, striking out 11 while walking only one. He reached the 10-strikeout mark with two outs in the fourth, creating visions of a truly special performance. He couldn’t keep up that pace but still overwhelmed Texas’ hitters while improving to 11-5 and lowering his ERA to 3.22.
A Nats lineup that was shut out in Tuesday night’s series opener came back to life tonight against Kumar Rocker. José Tena, getting the start in left field while batting third, homered in the top of the third. Keibert Ruiz added an RBI single in the fourth. And Jorbit Vivas got a runner home with a grounder to the right side in the sixth. Andrés Chaparro then supplied the final blow, a three-run homer to left off reliever Peyton Grey in the seventh.
With a six-run cushion, the Nationals bullpen finished things off without any drama, with Will Dion, Max Kranick and Jake Bird each pitching a scoreless inning to officially snap the team’s four-game losing streak.
HITTING HIGHLIGHT: Chaparro is getting more chances to start against right-handers, and he’s sure making the most of it. Serving as DH tonight against Rocker, he wound up going 3-for-4 with a single, double and homer (off Gray). He’s now batting .393 (11-for-28) with three doubles and three homers this season vs. righties. Blake Butera said all along he’s start earning more starts against righties once he began hitting lefties well. Chaparro took care of the first part throughout July, and now he’s taking care of the second part as well in August.
PITCHING HIGHLIGHT: How could Cavalli possibly top his no-hit bid last time out? How about reaching double digits in strikeouts by the fourth inning! Maybe this didn’t wind up being quite as dominant a start as eight innings of one-hit ball against the Cubs, but it certainly stacks up well with that. The first eight outs Cavalli recorded in this game were strikeouts, not to mention 10 of his first 11. He didn’t manage to keep up that pace all night, but in getting the Rangers to make quick outs in the fifth and sixth innings, he was able to keep his pitch count to a very respectable 84. On most nights, he would’ve been more than capable of going deeper into the game. But mindful of the fact he threw a career-high 103 pitches in that last start, not to mention the fact he’s still attempting to complete his first full MLB season, the Nats pulled him after the sixth.
FIELDING HIGHLIGHT: It came from shortstop CJ Abrams. Yes, shortstop. Despite suggestions he might finally make his first game appearance at second base tonight, Abrams was back at his longtime (and soon-to-be former) position for this game. And he turned in perhaps his best web gem of the season. With two outs and nobody on in the fifth, Abrams ranged far to his left and made a diving snag of Joc Pederson’s sharp grounder up the middle, hopping to his first and firing to first for the out. That one play probably isn’t going to make club officials change their mind, but it did serve as a reminder Abrams has the ability to make the spectacular play, no matter where he’s stationed in the infield.
UP NEXT: It’ll be Andrew Alvarez on the mound for the Nats for Thursday’s 8:05 p.m. series finale – yes, a getaway night game in advance of Friday’s game in Miami – and two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom pitching for the Rangers. TV: Nationals TV RADIO: 106.7 FM